Come Along, We'll be a Real Family
by AriesBalorPrincess
Summary: She's left moving to Bluebell, Alabama after the truth comes out and her mom wants to try her hand at a real relationship with the man that is her biological father. Zoe takes her anger out on a poor boy her own age can she make amends with him or will they remain at odds growing up? AU story
1. Intro

**Welcome to my newest story. This is the introduction and something I hadn't planned as it was written after I wrote the majority of the first chapter. I have been excited for this story for a while now. The first real chapter will take place directly after this one. And the break Zoe is suffering from here is the same break I have been dealing with all summer when it comes to my nephew. I should mention that I am not too fond of the Ethan part but I have rewritten that part numerous times. Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Hart of Dixie or the characters used. They belong to their rightful owners.**

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"Sweetie, want to go to the park?" Her father asked on his rare day off of work. She didn't miss the way he placed his pager into his pocket.

"Yes!" She cheered joyfully. Nothing could beat the days she got to spend with her dad. Those days were rare, just like playing at the park.

They walked hand in hand to the little park around the corner of their home, Zoe in a rush, pulling her father along. Ethan chuckling as he kept his daughter at a steady pace. Spending time with his daughter had been rare the last few months. And he needed to amend that. Getting to the opening of the park he let his daughter's hand go, walking behind her as she ran to go down the slide.

"Watch me dad," she demanded, looking over at her dad, to make sure he is watching her go across the monkey bars.

"I'm watching, Zoe," he told her with a smile. He watched her play for a half hour before she pulled him over to the swings to push her.

"Higher dad, higher," she laughed, pumping her little legs, making herself go higher, above the few trees scattered around the park.

"I'm trying sweetie," Ethan laughed, gently pushing her on the back to get her going higher.

One second he is laughing along with his daughter as she goes higher and higher flying through the air on the swing and the next second he is beside her on the ground as she is crying and holding her arm, saying it hurts between sobs wrecking her little body. Being the surgeon that he is, he can tell right away that her arm is broken.

Her tears didn't subside when she got to the hospital as they hooked her up to machines, waiting on the doctors to come and assess just how bad her arm happened to be, letting them know just what type of surgery they could be looking at.

"Dr. Hart, can we have a word?" A nurse asked, peering into the hospital room. Ethan kissed his daughters head promising he would be back in a few moments.

"What is this regarding?" He asked Nurse Colette, having worked with her on various shifts over the years.

The look on Colette's face told him everything and nothing at all. The words she spoke made no sense to him. He wanted to be prepared in case his little girl happened to need blood in case something went wrong. He wanted to be ahead of the curve and now they were telling him he wasn't a match to his own daughter. That she wasn't his. And the more he thought about it the more it made sense with the timeline of his wife and just how fast she wanted to be getting married upon her return home from the cruise. Her announcing her pregnancy so soon after they were married it hasn't seemed off at the time and now it made perfect sense. He had been raising another man's child all along.

"Ethan, how is our baby girl?" Candice asked, running up to her husband, having got the frantic call from her husband after her meeting ended. She made sure to clear the rest of her day.

"Care to enlighten me?" Ethan asked, getting a very confused look from his wife. "Just who is the father to the child I have been raising?" He questioned, his voice growing cold, years threatening to spill over.

"The cruise," she sighed, knowing she couldn't lie her way out. "Can we talk about this at home?" She questioned, not wanting to make a scene. She would tell him everything he wanted to know once their daughter was safe at home.

"I'll meet you there," he told her, not able to stand his wife. Taking one look in the room to see Zoe, tore him apart even further, he couldn't do it. He couldn't pretend any longer. "I can't be the guy that raises another man's child," he said, watching Zoe through the open door. He didn't wait for his wife to say anything, before he left the hospital.

Nurse Colette quickly filled Candice in on everything that her husband refused to tell her. She had moved away to give the couple some privacy while they had talked.

Thankfully the break wasn't a bad one and it was a clean break. They wouldn't have to put a pin in her bone to keep it in place. Instead they stuck with doing closed reduction. And once the medication wore off they were dismissed from the hospital, an appointment made for a week later to check on how the bone was healing and if she could be put in a hard case over that of the splint they put on her arm because of the swelling.

A month of being restricted of the things she can't be doing with her arm now in a pink cast with pictures and names scribbled all over it, she sat at the kitchen table eating her lunch with her mom, who had been home more often in the last month to look after her daughter.

"When's dad coming back?" Zoe asked, looking at her mom, placing her cup of juice on the table. In the last month she had seen her dad once and all he did was give her a sad smile.

"He's not," Candice outright told her daughter not seeing the point in lying to her about. Not when things were about to change drastically for them within the next two weeks.

"Why?" Zoe questioned, picking at her lunch.

"Because he's not your father, Zoe. And I went about it all wrong," she confessed.

"He's still my dad and you made him leave!"

Zoe angrily yelled. As angry as an 8 year old could be at her mom. "Why couldn't you have been honest with him from the start?" Zoe asked, little tears streaming down her face.

"It's complicated, Zoe," Candice sighed. "You need to understand that he isn't your father and the guy that is your dad will be here any minute and I expect you to be on your best behavior," mother warned her daughter.

"Don't worry, he's not at fault for what you did. I've been taught not to lie, but it's okay for you to do it. How is that fair, mom?" She questioned, wiping her years from her face.

"Would you drop the attitude, Zoe?" Candice asked, walking to the door to let their company in, now that they knocked on the door. "Harley, hi," she said, pulling the door open to let him in. Ever since that fateful night at the hospital she got into contact with Harley and told him everything she should have years ago when she found herself pregnant with his child. This would be her second chance and she wasn't about to let that love gonna second time.

"Hello, Candice," he smiled entering the apartment. "Zoe, hello. It's lovely to meet you," he said, sitting down in the chair across from her, now that she moved to the living room.

"Hi," she smiled softly at him.

The rest of Zoe's afternoon was spent getting to know Harley, her true father. She did find that it would be hard for him to replace the father she lost due to a lie her mother told. But she willing to give Harley a real shot at being her father. After all he had as much say in the situation as she did.

The very last thing she wanted to do is move to some small town called Bluebell. She wanted to stay in New York, she didn't get a choice in the matter as they were heading to live with Harley in Bluebell, Alabama.


	2. What's it to you?

_**Thank you for the love on the introduction to this story. This is the chapter as it's the only one so far that has set this little universe off and I am love with this one and I hope you all like this chapter. I do have a few different things planned that I want to incorporate into this story and I am going to say now that it is going to be a long road for Wade and Zoe to be friends as you will be seeing.**_

 ** _Enjoy!_**

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With her head in her hand, her eyes following her feet swinging back and forth, her shoe laces dragging on the porch, she has no urgency to stop swinging her feet to tie them. A sigh leaves her pink glossed lips every few minutes, drowning out the chirping of the birds, the laughter from the kids elsewhere in the neighborhood, and the faint music she can hear otherwise, not to mention the laughter and the playful banter coming from her new home with her suddenly new but not so new family inside. She's hot, the fan in her room doesn't work, the AC needs to be fixed and sitting in the shade on the porch swing has her clothes sticking to her. As far as she is concerned there is nothing great about the tiny southern town she now calls home.

"Hey, whatcha doin' at Doc Wilkes place? You hurt or somethin'?" The strange boys voice makes her jump, her heartbeat erratic in her chest. She sends him a glare, looking him over. His shaggy brown hair could use a nice cut, his right eye is a light shade of purple, his jeans are tore at the knee. She can see his knuckles match his eye, a small cut calling his right cheek home. "If that ain't it, then you'd be the daughter," he says, getting uncomfortable under her eye. There is no other explanation to her being there. Not to mention she is the talk of the town, her mom included for the last two and a half weeks. In his own mother made sure he would be nice to her, he had no plan to actually befriend her, but seeing her sitting there looking lost as ever he felt sorry for her, and he did what his mom wanted him to do and extend that olive branch of sorts.

"What's it to you?" She asks squaring her shoulders. "Does it look like I'm hurt?" She nearly spits out at him, placing her arm in the cast behind her back, because yes she is hurt, but that was already taken care of before the big move, it is the reason the truth came out. No stupid time traveling machines could fix it for her. "Not like I'd be sitting on some random stranger's porch in a strange town, now is it?" She asks, her anger still in place.

She knows that this is not his fault; he did not make her mom have some love affair on a cruise which resulted in her. This strange boy didn't make her mother choose money and lie to her and play pretend for the last 9 years. He did not force her to be here in this little town to be the family they should have been. Taking her anger out on him it is the easy thing to do, knowing she can't yell back at her mother without punishment and the last thing she wanted was to be grounded. So this poor innocent boy who couldn't mind his business would have to do.

"You don't gotta be such a snob about it," he retorted, looking at her with a sneer. Zoe rolled her eyes, taking a step closer to him. He can see the once brightly colored cast that has faded on her arm, even if she tried to hide from him, but he had a feeling that she wasn't sitting here for an appointment, not when he has an office for that, not to mention he hasn't seen her around in the past 10 years of his life. What more could he do? He tried, and that was all of the trying he was willing to do.

"You can mind your business and not stick your nose in mine, where it clearly doesn't belong," she snapped at him.

"Good luck making friends with that attitude," he muttered, ready to take off on his bike.

"Like I am going to be friends with the kid that can't mind his own stupid business," she told him, having heard what he muttered out.

"Right, sorry, princess," he muttered, taking off on his bike.

"I'm not a princess," she whispered, watching him ride around the corner, a lone tear pricking the corner of her, showing her just how alone she truly felt.

She felt bad for taking her anger over this whole situation out on him, nothing she could do about that now. Looking around the neighborhood, she felt as if she would see him sooner rather than later. She would apologize then. She wouldn't and couldn't chase after him. She wasn't allowed to get off the porch. She didn't understand why, the town was tiny, she is positive that no one in town would steal her away and if some random stranger drove through and tried to kidnap her, she felt as if a towns-person would step in and intervene. The town is small enough to know your neighbors neighbor.

"Zoe, sweetie, can you come in and get your things unboxed?" Candice asked, stepping outside, holding the screen door opened for her daughter.

"Of course, mother," she replied sickly sweet, walking inside.

She rushed up the stairs, slamming her door on accident. The door did slip from her fingers. With a huff she looked around to see several boxes that held her life in them. She stalked over to her window, pushing it open, to let a gentle breeze in her room. She did catch a glimpse of the same boy that she was rude to minutes prior enter his own house, two houses down on the opposite side of the road. At least she assumed it was his house with the way he entered without knocking on the door. Pushing everything to the back of her mind, she got busy getting her new room set up in a way she would enjoy it to be.

When dusk hit, turning the earlier blue sky with an array of purples, pinks and oranges, she was done with her room and sitting at the table a plate of food in front of her. After a few minutes of mindless chatter between her parents things fell silent, forks scraping on plates the only noise there was.

"I was thinking tomorrow while your mom works, that I could show you around," Harley suggested. An easy smile on his face. Happy to have his daughter apart of his life where he could watch her grow. That is the one thing that Candice made sure of is that she would be able to do her job from Bluebell as she didn't want to give it up. She found an office she could work from in Fairhope, with the possibility of growing the business there if it came to that.

"Sure," she agreed, sending him a small smile.

"Do you have everything unpacked?" Candice asked her daughter. Zoe still mad at her mom for forcing her to give up her friends and the life she knew in the city, shrugged her shoulders.

"It's been a long day, can I be excused?" Zoe asked, already in the process of getting up, not wanting to talk to her mom.

"Of course, sweetie. Need anything, you just ask," Harley told her. She nodded and headed back upstairs.

She laid on her bed, looking up at the wrong shade of white for a ceiling. She closed her eyes, to stop the tears from spilling out. She was grateful that she was given a chance to know her real father, it was just that everything changed in such a short period of time. One day they we're a happy family in the city, the next day she was wearing a cast on her broken arm, her father packing his bags, what she didn't know then was the truth, that he was never coming back, that he was not her father, that he might not even love her anymore now that the truth is out in the open. Because of that she resents and dislikes her mother, she would hate her if hate wasn't such a mean and harsh word to use.

She didn't remember falling asleep, the second she opened them it is clear that she slept through the night, the sun now starting to peek over the treetops, the birds partaking in their lovely melodies for the day.

Changing from the clothes she wore yesterday into a fresh outfit; she makes her way downstairs to see her father, it felt too weird to call him Harley, a little less weird to call him dad, it is weird still.

"Morning," she says, slipping into the chair with the plate of food waiting for her. For her it is easier to be nice to her father. He had as much of a choice in the whole situation as she did. She can't blame him for her mother's lies, that would be wrong.

"Morning, Zoe. Heard you moving around," he tells her in way of an explanation to the warm food she is eating.

"Did you make this?" She questions between bites of toast. Nannies made her food, not so much her mom.

"Most the food in this house is cooked in that very kitchen," he replied with a smile and a nod to the kitchen. "Don't see a point in having a kitchen if you don't use it."

She smiled glancing to the kitchen, future moments made with her father making an array of things flashing through her mind. She would be okay with that.

"I guess not," she replied back. "What are we doing today? When we drove through yesterday the town didn't look all that big," she commented after her question.

"There is plenty to see and even more to learn about this little town," he chuckled. "It may not look like much from the outside, though, it is a pretty great town to be apart of."

"I will have to take your word for it, until I'm here longer," she concluded, finishing off her breakfast.

"Before I start the tour, I do need to stop by the practice for a second, if you don't mind," he told her.

"Not at all. I would like to see the place where you work, and where I will be visiting soon enough to get this removed," she told him, holding her cast up for him to see.

With her plate in the sink with the other dirty dishes from that morning, she headed out to see what all the hype was about this town. She may not have known her biological father very long, though she was happy to not only spend time with him, but also learn that they had plenty of things in common.


	3. Problem Child

**_Guys, I don't know when the next update is going to be on this story or on Hart of a Kinsella, as the end of summer vacation is upon me and we're switching into getting back into the upcoming school year, and getting last minute summer actives in, that is going to be hard to get things updated until after school starts. I have started the next chapter for this one, so hopefully it won't be too long before the next update comes, but I do have a few other stories to work on as well._**

 ** _Now for this chapter, it didn't come out the way I wanted it to, when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to happen within it, but I don't hate what the chapter turned in to. And I tried to look and see if Bluebell had a newspaper and what it was called but I lucked out in finding anything of the sorts, hence why I went with the Bluebell Herald._**

 ** _Enjoy!_**

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After being shown around the town and an invite to have dinner with the Breeland's they ended their little tour at a house down the street from them. Waiting for the owners to answer, had Zoe feeling anxious with each second that past. She knew she needed to issue an apology to the boy she saw enter the house the day prior, but the not knowing how he would react to seeing her freaked her out the most. She didn't want him to hate her forever.

"Harley, hi" a pretty brunette smiled opening the door, giving him a hug. "Now this must be Zoe," she smiled at Zoe ushering them in. "I'm Jackie and that one in the living room is my husband Earl," she introduced.

"Hi," Zoe shyly smiled.

"Hi," Earl smiled, turning the TV off seeing who their company happened to be. "Jesse and Wade are upstairs if you want to play with them," he informed her. Seeing she would do better around them and not being stuck with the adults as they talked about who knows what.

"Go on, dear," Harley urged her. She nodded, taking the stairs one at a time, hearing the murmurs from the adults grow quieter the further she went upstairs, their laughter the only noise following behind her.

"What do you want princess?" Wade asked, seeing her in the hallway from his room where his door remained open. He really thought his house would be a sanctuary from the likes of her. He really didn't want to be seeing her so soon and in his house no less.

"My dad brought me over," Zoe retorted. She may have been here because of her dad, but she thought upon seeing him that she would be able to apologize to him. She couldn't change how he acted towards her after saying what needed to be said. That would be on him. "I wanted to say that I am sorry for my behavior yesterday afternoon. I am mad at my mother, and it was wrong of me to take that out on you," she told him, needing to take a quick second to take a breath. "Hi, I am Zoe," she told him, holding her hand out, ready to put one bad afternoon behind them, and to start over.

"Wade," he said, looking at her hand. "You may say you're sorry, but I don't believe you are. You are just use to getting your way because you're that spoiled princess I met yesterday, that's the real you," he retorted, leaving Zoe to stand in the hallway by herself as he headed downstairs, to play outside in the yard, to get away from her.

"You'll have to excuse him." Hearing the voice from behind her she spun around to face the teen that looked just like Wade only a few years older. "He's going through something," he laughed. He didn't know what was going on with his brother. A ten-year old shouldn't have problems to deal with. But over the last few months, Wade went from pranks to fights. He tried to talk him, but Wade would yell and slam his door. He didn't understand why his brother was acting like an angsty teen years before he was one. "I'm Jesse," he smiled.

"I'm Zoe," she nodded. "What is there to go through at his age?" Zoe asked with frown. He had both his parents, and they weren't keeping anything from him like a father, like her mother had done to her. It wasn't like he was older than she was.

"I haven't been able to figure that out," Jesse told her. "You can come into my room," he suggested. "I promise I don't bite," he smirked.

"You sure about that?" She asked, walking past him and taking refuge in his desk chair, her eyes roaming over the room seeing how neat it was. Taking a second look around his room she couldn't see anything out of place or things tossed about, unlike the mess his brother's room happened to be when she caught a glimpse.

"I won't bite you," he laughed, a bit of blush on his cheek at the question, not that she would understand the meaning behind her question or the sudden blush, as he did get up to things with his girlfriend, the things a normal 15 year old got up to and what she was comfortable with as he wouldn't push her into anything she wasn't comfortable with. He knew that no meant no. "The same time he started acting out was the same time he started to act differently around my dad," he commented, regaining his normal face color and moving away from topics they shouldn't be discussing.

"You don't think your dad did something to him, do you?" Zoe asked, scrunching her face up. Jesse shook his head. His dad wouldn't do anything of the sort and he told Zoe as much. He should be mad at such a question, but he knew Zoe didn't know any better with her only being in town for a little over 24 hours. "It's a mystery to me," she shrugged. She had enough of her own problems that she didn't need to be chasing after Wade to figure out what was going on with him, not that he would tell her as he seems to be dead set on hating her forever. She would avoid him as much as she could in the small town.

"It's a mystery to us all," he nodded, taking a seat on his bed. "How are you liking Bluebell?" He asked, wanting to get to know the girl his brother couldn't stop talking about since meeting her yesterday afternoon, granted half of it had been muttered under his breath and how much of a stuck up, spoiled princess she happened to be. Jesse still found it funny and cute. Because he wanted to believe that his brother was starting to get his first real crush.

"It's interesting that's for sure," she told him. "And Dash, now he is something else," she smiled. She liked the guy; he talked about New York and plays like he really knew what he was talking about. Plays she hasn't been allowed to go see, but he made them sound beautiful and like magic wrapping around you. The way he described each show made her feel like she was watching it happened before her very eyes in the streets of Bluebell.

"He has a column in the Bluebell Herald," Jesse informed her. "It comes out every Thursday," he tacked on. "You can read, right?" He asked with a slight smirk.

"You're a jerk," she laughed, throwing the ball that sat on his desk, hitting him in the head. Jesse laughed, throwing a pillow at her which she caught, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Figures you two would get along," Wade retorted, leaning against the door jamb, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't get why you hate her for," Jesse commented. "She's pretty cool and she's better to hang out with then you," he remarked.

"You would say that considering you can be just as stuck up as the princess here," Wade smirked.

"I am not stuck up nor a princess," Zoe retorted. "You're just a jerk," she huffed out. "Yesterday had been a bad day for me. You don't understand what I had gone through or what I am going through, you just assume you know everything when you don't know squat. I am sorry that I took my anger out on you, but now I don't know if you deserve a sorry," she stated, crossing her arms over her chest, Jesse holding back his laughter at the spitfire that is Zoe.

"You don't know what you're talking about, princess," Wade smirked at her.

"I really don't think you do your royal highness of the jerks," Zoe challenged him.

"Just go back to your little fairytale," Wade retorted, taking a step backwards to head to his room.

"If this were a fairytale, I'd be with my family," she retorted, leaving off she'd be back in New York away from the likes of him.

"You have that now," Wade remarked. "Your parents together. That is what you wanted, right?" Wade questioned, shutting his bedroom door.

"That is what I want," she softly said, turning to look at Jesse. "But not like this," she said shaking her head. "And what was he going on about?" She asked.

"About what?" Jesse questioned, recalling his brother's words, not finding anything to be concerned about.

"That I don't know what it's like to have my family tore apart," she commented. "Are your parents having trouble in their marriage? Does he have a different dad or something?" She asked, getting that from what little Wade said about her own situation, wanting to know more about Wade as didn't like being on the outside.

"They are fine," he nodded. He hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary with them. "Like I said I don't know the deal with Wade. They fight but even your parents fights," he commented. "And I can assure you my mom and dad are his as well," he told her. He didn't mind the questions as she simply didn't know.

"Yeah," she sighed.

Maybe she was wrong with being mad at her mom, everyone makes mistakes, that is something she knew, but she didn't think it was okay for her mom to build a life for them around a lie. And being mad at her mom had been easy to do. Though, maybe, she could let the anger go and try to enjoy this life she has now, as she does get to know her father and isn't Ike she can control what Ethan does now that he knows the truth. Kids in broken homes often wish they could have their families whole and without knowing it she had been in a broken home and getting that chance to have her family. But it didn't make the situation any less horrible for her. It was a lot to take in for her. And a lot of it she couldn't understand or begin to understand.

She was determined to enjoy her time in Bluebell. She didn't think she would ever be able to make amends with Wade. As it seemed things with him we're determined to remain on the outs with him. And that would have to be okay, because she couldn't please everyone.

It was later that night after having dinner with the Breeland's that Zoe found herself in Lemon's room playing dolls that she got the courage to ask about Wade, since she didn't know just how much of what Jesse told her could be believed since they are brothers.

"What's the deal with Wade?" Zoe asked. Having found that she gets along with the other girl quite amazingly so. She truly believed they could be best friends in no time at all.

"The deal with Wade?" Lemon asked, moving the toy baby bottle from the mouth of her doll. "What do you mean?"

"I was over there today and he seemed to have this attitude," she shared. "We didn't have the best first impression, but I apologized for my behavior and he would not accept it," she sighed.

"He made a new friend in a kid named Meatball, why you would name your son after a ball of meat for I do not know," she shuttered.

"You're named after a fruit," Zoe commented.

"Yeah, but it's cute, Meatball, not so much," Lemon retorted. Zoe nodded, agreeing with her on that one. "Anyway, ever since he's been getting in trouble more, I don't get it. His attitude hasn't changed towards me," she frowned. "So I can't really help you," Lemon shrugged.

"I didn't think you could," Zoe sighed, picking Lulu back up to continue playing their game until it was time to head home.

That night she found that as much as she didn't want to worry about the ongoings in Wade's life, she couldn't help but think of reasons that could make him act out in such a way. And if it helped to keep her thoughts away from her own problems so be it.


	4. Sprinkle some goodness on your troubles

_**I am sorry about the bit of wait on both my HoD stories. I found it hard to get back into writing anything. I feel I should warn you that the events in this chapter did not go the way I wanted them to. Do you guys know how hard it is to keep Zoe and Wade apart? Even saying that I do want to say, that it won't be an easy road for Wade and Zoe throughout this story, as I have things down the line planned out and things need to stay on a certain course for those to work out.**_

 _ **For anyone that happens to read Hart of a Kinsella please know that I am currently working on the next chapter for that one and I am hoping that I can get that one up in the next few days, as I know what I want to happen within the chapter.**_

 _ **For now enjoy this one.**_

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"You do know that you don't have to sit here right?" Harley asked, walking out of his office to see his daughter sitting in the corner, curled up in a chair, reading a book. The rest of the waiting room empty, even Emmeline out on her lunch break.

"I know," she replied, glancing at him before going back to the story in front of her to finish the paragraph she was in the middle of reading before placing her bookmark between the pages to save her spot. "Home is boring with Mom off working, and Lemon is busy with her family today. It's not like I have a whole lot of friends," she shrugged.

"Go explore," he urged, taking the book from her. "Living in a different world can wait till tonight," he stated.

"There is nothing I can say to get out of this is there?" Zoe questioned with a sigh, pushing herself from the chair.

"You got that right," Harley chuckled. "Remember to meet back here at one so we can head off," he reminded her as she went on her way.

"I'll be here," she replied, walking out into the hot and humid weather Alabama had to offer her.

She smiled and said hello to those that said it to her as walked around the little town. She didn't know where the hangouts were at since she had only been in town for a week. School started in another two weeks so that left her with nothing to do when Lemon couldn't play.

She hadn't been paying attention to where she was going and when she looked up from the dirt path she saw a little foot trail that lead to a dock. She looked around and followed the path, sure she would remember her way out and back to town. To her surprise she saw a gazebo sitting over the water, that wasn't what surprised her the most, it was the boy sitting on the edge of the dock, his feet dangling over the water as he would toss a rock into the water at random. Seeing he was getting low on rocks she found a handful and took them with her as she started down the dock.

"Haven't you been told to stay out of other people's business?" Wade retorted, tossing a rock into the water. The kerplunk, ringing out loud and clear as Zoe took a spot next to him on the dock, adding her handful of rocks to his pile.

"Yes," Zoe nodded, chewing her lip. "And trust me, I don't want to be here as much as you don't want me here, but you need to talk to someone, Wade," she sighed. "Who better than me?" She asked. How could she judge him like the rest when she didn't know anything about him to judge him on? And she would much rather be back at the practice reading her book taking the maiden voyage on the Dawn Treader in Narnia.

"Why? So you have something to hold over my head?" He snapped at her. She shook her head.

"Because the few days I have been in town, I have been told this isn't the real you and that you're acting out but no one knows why," she stated. "Thought I could help is all," she shared.

She waited a few moments to see if he would say anything. It would be rude to leave before he was ready to share, but at the same time she knew when someone needed to be left alone with their thoughts. Heaving a sigh, she got up, to make her way back to the practice to see if her dad was ready to head to Fairhope to have lunch with her mom.

"It's my dad," Wade sighed, shaking his head not sure why he was telling Zoe any of this, when he didn't even get along with her to begin with. But the appeal of talking to someone out weighed who he told.

"What about him?" Zoe asked, sitting back down next to him. She didn't dare look at him and opted to look out over the rippling water instead, not wanting him to close up and toss an insult at her again. She could tell having only been around him a few times that he was hurting.

"I saw him one day at work," Wade started to say. "He didn't know I was there," he informed her. "And I saw him cheating on my mom. I know what I saw," he stated, wanting her to know that she couldn't be questioning him on what he saw.

"Did you talk to your dad about what you saw?" She asked, having a personal idea on how it felt when your family fell apart around you. What her mom did resulted in her being born, but the effects of that one decision is only now taking effect.

"Of course I did," Wade stated, tossing a handful of rocks into the water. "But I was told to mind my own business as I don't know what I am talking about," he huffed out. "Just because I am a kid doesn't mean nothing; I know what I saw and it was Dad all over some woman that isn't my Ma," he hissed out, kicking at the water.

"Being a kid bites because adults think we don't know what's going on or what's being said. Why can't they hear us and explain things to us instead of them telling us we wouldn't understand?" She asked him, not expecting an answer from him.

"Exactly!" He yelled, turning to look at her for the first time since she joined him on the dock. "We can comprehend more than they think," he told her.

"Right?" She asked him, looking to him and seeing the hurt in his eyes. "Have you thought about seeing if it's more than a one-time thing?" She asked him. It might be the thing to bring them closer to being friends or at the very least where they can be civil towards each other.

"I've tried," he sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "I get caught."

"Then we keep trying," she retorted. Playing spy to find answers, it would pass her time in Bluebell that much faster and she knew how it felt to have your family crumble in front of your eyes. Watching everything you knew to be true to be nothing more than a lie wasn't a pretty feeling to have.

"Why do you wanna help me out for?" He asked skeptically. "I won't let you use the information against me," he warned.

"Against popular belief towards me, I'm not the type to use anything of the sort against you. I'm not cruel like that, Wade," she told him. "I know how you're feeling thinking your family is falling to pieces. And you want to do everything you can to stop it from happening," she sympathized with him.

"Tomorrow, the auto shop at two," he informed her. "If you don't show then I know that I can't trust you," he stated, getting up and heading off to leave Zoe alone on the dock, not giving her a chance to say anything.

Zoe sighed, waiting for him to be out of sight before getting to her feet and following the direction he went to go meet up with her dad so they could make the commute to have lunch with her mom.

"Considering that you are ten minutes late, I can safely assume that you found some sort of trouble to get into?" Harley asked, laughing as his daughter got into the car, buckling up in the backseat.

"Trouble?" She asked him faking an outrage. "What do I look like to you a troublemaker?" She questioned with a sweet smile.

"One day, sweetie, one day," he chuckled, starting the car to start on the journey to Fairhope. "What is it you did then?" He asked, focusing on the road, glancing in the rearview mirror at his daughter.

"Talking to Wade," she shrugged. "Made plans to hang out with him tomorrow afternoon, if that is alright with you," she told him. She did want to ask and see if her dad could give her any information about Earl, but she didn't know if he could tell her anything. And she really didn't want to give Wade a reason to hate her even more than he already does.

"That is fine," Harley nodded, happy to see that she was making more friends than Lemon and that things with Wade were going better as Zoe opened up to him about Wade and how she thought the boy hates her. "Just no getting into trouble," he warned her with a pointed look.

"I can promise that I won't be getting into this trouble you speak of," she retorted. "On the other hand, I make no promises when it comes to Wade. He seems to be a magnet for trouble," she sighed. Not that she had seen it first hand but the bruises he sported told her enough.

* * *

It was a few minutes before two when Zoe showed up to see Wade sitting outside the place on a bench. She sat next to him.

"I'm confused," Zoe told him, looking around. All the spy movies that she has seen or read about was done so in hiding and not out in plain sight.

"About what, Princess?" Wade muttered, holding the bag of chips out to her. He wouldn't normally share his food with anyone, except Zoe was helping him prove something is going on with his dad.

"How can we do recon from here?" She asked, reaching into the bag taking a single chip out.

"We got to make sure, that he doesn't expect anything from us, first," Wade shrugged. "We wait a few minutes then we make our move," he explained to her more fully, expecting her to understand it all from the start.

"I don't know how much that makes sense," she stated. "But what we do is all up to you, I'm here to help you is all," she retorted with a shrug.

"Since I am calling the shots, this is what we're doing," he stated, holding the bag out to her again. Zoe shook her head declining the chips. "Suit yourself," he shrugged. "So uh how ya liking this little Utopia?" He asked in way of conversation.

"Really?" She asked him with a laugh. Wade shot her a look questioning just what she thought was so stupidly funny. "I didn't take you for the type to make small talk is all," she clarified for him. "With the bruises and all, I figured you liked to let your fists do the talking," she teased.

"Ma taught me not to hit girls," he stated. "And it is a genuine question whether it be small talk or not," he pointed out.

"It's quiet here and sometimes it's too quiet. I miss the noise of New York," she sighed. "But I am adjusting. I think I am finally used to the fresh air," she told him.

"The quiet can be a bit much sometimes," he retorted. Not that he wanted to be listening to cars and people all night long. That is where his radio came in handy.

"Zoe, I didn't know you were coming by," Earl said equally shocked and not one bit surprised to see the one girl in town his youngest complained about sitting next to him. "Does your dad know your whereabouts?" He questioned, while using the dirty red rag in his back pocket to wipe the grease off his hands.

"Of course miss goody-two-shoes told Harley where she was going to be at," Wade retorted, with more attitude than necessary.

"I told my dad my whereabouts and when I need to be home. So you don't need to release the hounds," she teased. "And really this would have been his idea anyway. Says I need to get out and explore more and not stay inside and read," she shrugged.

"Please stay out of trouble," Earl begged, looking at his youngest, before walking off.

"You're not doing this just because your dad said you need to be outside exploring are you?" He asked, not liking that he was the scapegoat for her.

"No," she groaned, closing her eyes. "If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be here," she stressed.


	5. Given up or not?

**Guys, I am sorry with the wait for this chapter, my biggest excuse is life in general.**

 **My intention wasn't to end it on a cliffhanger, the way I had done this chapter, but with what I want to do to reveal everything, I really couldn't get it work if I were to keep going.**

 **I promise it won't take me as long as it has been to update this one. As I do know what I want to happen and how to go about it.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

They had watched Earl for the better part of a month, Zoe spent her Saturdays with Wade and despite spending most of her time with the boy who held a massive chip on his shoulders, they still couldn't get along for no more than a few minutes. At school it was almost like he didn't know her. He ignored her in the halls. She could forgive him for that as the few times a few of the older kids bullied her, he was there in their face ready to fight, sending her a small smile as he stalked off.

As fun as it was to creep along to get the scoop on Earl, Sundays were easily her favorite day of the week. Sunday morning she would help her dad with breakfast, after eating she would go with him on his Sunday afternoon house visits, loving a farm way more than she had ever thought possible. Her mom hadn't been too happy one Sunday when she came home nothing but mud as she helped chase Farmer Dan's goat around the pen, right alongside his two twin boys who were a year younger than her. It had been a pretty memorable day.

The last half of her Sunday's are filled with family bonding as they find something to do as a family in one of the neighboring towns before getting dinner and coming home so Zoe could get ready for bed for school bright and early Monday morning.

"I am having a sleepover at my house this Friday, and I would really like it if you came," Lemon stated, taking a seat across from Zoe in the lunchroom with a tray of food.

"I'll have to ask my parents," Zoe retorted. She was sure they would let her go and she wanted to go, she did, but Saturday was her day with Wade and she didn't want to bail on him or have him think that was what she was doing. She was finding it hard to gain his trust and she couldn't be sure that she gained all of it.

"I need to know by Wednesday so my mom can get everything set up," Lemon told her, giving her a bit of heated look as to not forget and that she should really ask after school. "I would hate for my dad to talk to your dad at work and force your hand in coming over," Lemon warned.

"I'll ask once I see my parents tonight, Lemon, I swear it," Zoe promised, digging into her lunch.

"Lemon threatening you too?" Crickett questioned, joining them at the table.

"I am not threatening anyone," Lemon huffed. "I'm merely suggesting you both ask tonight instead of at the last-minute," she clarified with a small eye roll. "Laziness gets you nowhere," she muttered loud enough for her two friends to hear her.

"Lemon, suggesting and threatening are like the same thing in your book," Zoe giggled at the glare her friend gave her. "We know you mean well and I will ask, I promise," she stated.

"What and who are you asking?" George asked, taking seat at the opposite end of the table with a reluctant Wade.

"A sleepover at my house Friday," Lemon told him. "And no, boys are not welcome," she firmly told both George and Wade. "I won't be grounded for a month because of either of you two," she retorted. She wouldn't let them destroy her house with their stupid dart guns and slingshots.

"Whatever, we'll just have a boys night," George laughed, looking to Wade, who remained awfully quiet over the whole thing. He didn't even attempt to make a joke. "Right?" George asked, nudging his friend in the ribs.

"It's whatever," he muttered, taking off leaving his tray of untouched food on the table, everyone at the table wearing matching frowns.

"What just happened?" Crickett questioned, looking around at her three friend.

"No clue," George shrugged. He really didn't know what has been going on with his friends.

Zoe bit her lip and found her food more interesting than the confused looks around her. She knew what was going on with Wade and it really wasn't her place to say anything not that she would to begin with. She wanted to chase him down and assure him that she would be there Saturday, but her friends wouldn't let her live it down and they were in school were he didn't like to recognize her even though she spent three or four days after school at his house.

"Zoe Hart, what is it you know?" Lemon demanded. Zoe went to speak but Lemon was there to cut her off. "And do not give us any lame attempts at lying to us," she warned.

"It's complicated," Zoe shrugged, not sure how else to describe it. Thankfully for her the bell rang before they could question her further and find a way to drag the truth out of her. She made quick works of her tray and left the lunchroom before her friends could catch up to her and question her further about her shady behavior because it would reveal everything Wade is going through. She couldn't and wouldn't do that to him.

"We're not done with this conversation, Zoe," Lemon harshly whispered taking her seat at their science table.

"Yes, we are, Lemon," Zoe stressed, remaining quiet not wanting to gain the attention of their pupils who were entering the class. "I will not tell you what you want to know. I won't betray Wade like that." She did have enough of Lemon thinking she could get her way all the time. She wouldn't cave to Lemon and she would have to deal. "And for all I know it could be something else entirely, like the next stupid prank Meatball is gonna do to land them both in detention," Zoe rambled on, growing quiet seeing Mr. Anders enter the classroom to start their lesson in science.

"Zoe, I get that," Lemon sighed. "But Wade has been a friend for years and I would like to know what's going on with my friends," she explained.

"It's not my place to say," Zoe softly told her.

"Miss Breeland, Miss Hart, would you like to share with the class?" Me. Anders asked. Lemon and Zoe shaking their heads. He nodded, starting to pass out the quizzes he was telling his students about. A quiz they should all pass if they had done the studying he advised them to do the night prior.

It was one of the rare days during the week where Zoe found herself at the Kinsella house for dinner. Her parents going out for a little date night, home before Zoe needed to be in bed. It is something that her parents have done once or twice a week. There had been a few times that Jackie had stayed with her because her parents were running late and Zoe didn't feel comfortable enough with kicking Jesse or Wade from their beds and that's when Jackie offered to stay with her at her home until her parents returned home.

She offered to help with whatever was producing the wonderful and mouth-watering smells omitting from the kitchen, however, Jackie told her no and to get busy working on her school work. Zoe nodded and made herself comfortable as one can be in a wooden kitchen chair to get her homework out-of-the-way. She was in the middle of writing her paper for English when Wade stormed into the house, stopping for a second seeing Zoe sitting at his kitchen table, before he continued on his way in a bigger hurry than before. Zoe like Jackie knew that Wade was just getting home because of the detention he got himself in for the week.

Zoe dropped her pencil on the table, took a look into the kitchen to see that Jackie is occupied with the food not only on the stove but what she had in the stove to cook. She pushed herself away from the table and slowly took each stair one at a time to Wade's room. She really wanted to assure him that she would be there for him on Saturday. If that was even the reason for the weird mood he had been in since lunch.

"What do you want, princess?" Wade snapped, looking at her in the hallway standing in front of his bedroom door, as he paused tearing his room apart to find, well Zoe wasn't certain what he was looking for and this point it really didn't matter.

"To let you know that I will be there on Saturday, a sleepover at Lemon's house won't stop me," she told him, ignoring the angry mood he has been in.

"What's it matter?" Wade snapped, falling on his bed. "We've been tryin' for a month and we ain't got nothin' on him," he sighed.

Zoe nodded, walking into his room as slow as ever, to have a seat on the end of his bed. "Is this where you're giving up?" She asked, looking at the pale green carpet in his room that has faded many shades of green from over the years of play.

"I don't see any other option," he retorted, shrugging. "Do you?" He asked gruffly.

She didn't see any other option. She wanted to see another way to go about this. She even offered to ask Earl herself about the woman, but Wade had pointed out that would only raise red flags because Zoe wasn't supposed to know anything about that. "Not really, no," she sighed, leaving him be and getting back to her homework.

It wasn't until she was lying awake in her bed later that night, that she realized that she was going to miss hanging out with Wade a few hours every week. Without their little spying operation, she had no reason to hang out with Wade. And that was hard to wrap her little mind around. She may not say much or anything when they are watching to see what his dad is up too, but she would still miss it all the same.

"Now what has you up this early?" Harley asked, watching his daughter slump over at the table, while he worked on getting breakfast made.

"School stuff," she shrugged. It's not like she could explain what she has been up to with Wade to her dad, he wouldn't understand why she was doing it or be okay with it either. And she didn't want to disappoint him. She lost one father, she didn't want to be losing another, if she could help it. "Actually, I was going to ask last night, but with it being a sudden date night, I didn't get the chance to ask," she quickly rushed out. "Lemon is having a sleepover Friday night, can I go, please?" She asked, adding in a small pout.

Harley chuckled, shaking his head. "You do know that pout of yours won't work forever, right?" He questioned.

"It'll work long enough," Zoe smirked at her father, feeling more awake than she currently is. "Can I?" She repeated.

"I don't see why not," Harley smiled. Brick had given him a heads up yesterday at the practice and he already confirmed that Zoe would be there.

"Thanks Dad," Zoe smiled, getting up to get ready for her day at school.

The rest of the week went by in the same fashion as the other weeks since school started. Friday after school saw her walking with Lemon and Crickett to Lemon's house. Upon getting there they had an afternoon snack and ushered off to get their homework done before they could do anything else. Something they had made a fuss over, but couldn't get out of doing.

"What's going on with you and Wade?" Crickett questioned, painting her toenails like the other two were doing.

Zoe stopped placing the cap back on the polish she was using, frowning at Crickett. "What do you mean, Crickett?" Zoe asked. "I don't have anything going on with Wade," she confirmed.

"That's not true and you know it. Zoe, we aren't stupid," Lemon spat rolling her eyes at how dense Zoe is being.

"It is true. You both see how he treats me at school. Like I don't exist. The same can be said, when I am at his house. Trust me when I say there isn't a dang thing going on with Wade," Zoe stated, looking hurt that they wouldn't believe her on the subject.

"He may ignore you at school," Lemon started to say, placing the cap on her nail polish and tightening so it wouldn't tip over and spill as she was done with it. "But he comes running to your rescue and stands up for you, Zoe. So I dare you to tell me there isn't anything going on," Lemon huffed out.

"I don't know what else I can say. I don't get along with Wade. We had it out my first day here, and I tried to make amends, it didn't work. I don't know why he comes to my rescue and help out with the bullies at school, but I didn't ask him to do that. I've come to realize that Wade doesn't want my friendship," she harshly told her friends. That hurt worse than a lot of things have in her life. Because she had thought she was making ground on being friends with Wade, but it was clear to see that hadn't been the case at all. "You'd have to ask him why he sticks up for me," she whispered, closing her eyes to will away the tears.

"Zoe, we didn't mean to upset you," Crickett softly told her, gently rubbing her friends back. "Come on let's play a game," she smiled. Zoe nodded giving her friend a smile, ready to put behind the drama with Wade as they fussed over what game they should play.

After playing various board games and some truth and dare, they got themselves settled with all sorts of snacks and to watch movies well into the night as they were spread out in sleeping bags in the family room.

"If you think he's cute then why not ask him to the dance in two weeks?" Zoe asked a red-faced Lemon.

"He's my best friend, I can't," Lemon insisted, shaking her head, pulling the sleeping bag over her face. "We're going to that dance as a group," Lemon announced getting her emotions in check.

"Then you need to dance with him at least," Crickett said. "The dance was lame last year when no one wanted to dance, we can't let that be the same again this year," she tacked on.

"What if he doesn't want to dance?" Lemon inquired, pausing the movie.

"Like he would say no to his best friend," Zoe smiled. "Can we be realistic here?" She asked, rolling her eyes at the antics of her friend.

"Zoe's right, he won't leave you hanging. He hasn't yet," Crickett added.

"Maybe so," Lemon said thoughtfully. "I will think about it. But if I dance with him, we need to figure out who you two are going to find to dance with," she smirked.

Crickett and Zoe both tried to protest that thought, but Lemon wasn't having any of it. If she had to summon the courage up to ask her best friend for a dance they needed to find the courage to ask a boy to dance with them. The only thing to do was for Zoe and Crickett to cave and agree to Lemon's demands.

Morning found them sooner than they would have liked it to. They took their turns in the bathroom to get ready for the day, cleaning up from their night. And when they made it to the table breakfast was being placed in front of them. Shortly after breakfast Crickett had to leave. Zoe not far behind. As she wouldn't let Wade down, she would show up even if he wouldn't be there. She couldn't find it in herself to give up in the same fashion that Wade had.

"Where are you off to?" Lemon asked, seeing Zoe to the door. "You kind of up and disappear most of Saturday and no one knows where you go."

"Around," Zoe shrugged. "I've come to like the peace and quiet this town has to offer. At first it was because I had so much going on when I first came here, that it was nice to be away from it all," she lied to an extent. She may have been spending that time with Wade, but since they hardly said a word to each other, it did at times feel like she sitting there by herself, letting her clear her mind and wrap herself around being in Bluebell, with a new family before her.

Lemon accepted that as an answer and let Zoe go with a see you at school on Monday. Zoe rushed home to leave her things by the front door, not wanting to waste any more time and made her way to the auto shop, half expecting Wade to already be there, and half not expecting him to show up at all.

She froze coming up to the auto shop, seeing Earl talking to a woman, looking more than cozy with her as they talked, laughs slipping out. As crazy as she might have thought about Wade being paranoid in thinking his dad was cheating, it does seem like he was telling the truth. She stood watching Earl's hand drop from the strange woman's arm to sit firmly in the middle of her lower back as he led her around back.

Zoe was torn on going to find Wade or going after Earl to see what was really going on. She is certain that Earl would introduce her to whoever the woman happened to be. Not really sure what to do, she looked around to see Wade making his way towards her.

"Did you see a ghost or something?" Wade questioned, raising an eyebrow at her. She shook her head.

"Does you dad's mystery woman have black hair?" She asked, with their backs having been turned towards her that was the only thing she had been able to notice about her other than, "and a few inches shorter than your dad?"

"That could be her," Wade slowly told her. He couldn't be certain until he saw her with his own eyes. "Where'd they go?" He asked, peering around Zoe and not seeing his dad or said woman.

"They went around back," she informed him. Wade nodded, grabbing her hand and pulling her behind him to see what was going on.


	6. Truth Revealed

Zoe sat with Wade on his front porch, the mental images of what they saw, running on repeat in his head. She wanted to say something, but when she tried to say anything, she froze up and decided to remain silent. Thinking that your parent is cheating and seeing it first hand, were two very different things. Granted they hadn't seen much, but it had been enough to quill any thoughts that Wade really wasn't making things up. She hated seeing it first hand for him, because she had been through enough family drama that she knew how it felt to a degree and really there isn't anything she could say to make it better, because sorry would do none of them any good.

"You don't gotta stay here," Wade mumbled, toeing the wooden step. He wasn't sure if her comfort is something that he wanted or needed, the only thing he knew for sure is that he needed to get his thoughts in order before he confronted his father, because he couldn't say anything like that to his mom without getting a few facts from his dad.

Zoe shrugged. "Got nothing better to do," she replied, feeling him tense up next to her, told her everything she needed to know about saying the wrong thing to him. "That's not what I meant," she quickly told him, chewing on her bottom lip.

"I don't need you here," Wade told her between clenched teeth. "I don't need your stupid pity, Zoe," he grumbled.

"Who said anything about me pitying you?" She asked, with a slight eye roll. "Believe it or not, I like your family, Wade," she stated. When she is at the Kinsella house, she can feel the love that fills the house, something she doesn't quite have at home, or a feeling she had when she lived in New York. Don't get her wrong, because she knows that her dad loves her and that her mom, in her own way loves her as well. And Harley tries as much as he can to fill their home with love, but it doesn't reach the level of the Kinsella home. "I pushed my way into helping find evidence of what was going on with Earl, and I want to see it through. So I repeat, I have nothing better to do, because I want the same answers that you want," she stressed out.

"Okay," Wade nodded. He had more to say, but the interruption by his mom held him back from saying anything else.

"Why don't you two come in and have a snack," Jackie urged them, pushing the door open, waiting on them to move from their spot. She had watched them, run up to the house and collapse on the front steps, leaving them be. But after an hour of them sitting out there, and making no move to get up, she needed to intervene and get them out of the sun and replenish what the heat from the day had taken out of their bodies, because the last thing she wanted to do is call Harley or Brick to announce that one if not both Wade and Zoe ended up dehydrated on her watch.

"A snack?" Wade huffed out with a slight hint of humor in his voice, seeing juice, sandwiches and chips sitting on plates at the table. A plate of brownies in the middle of the table.

"A mother can never have enough food on hand for growing children," Jackie stated, ushering them toward the table. "Eat," she demanded, walking to the kitchen to clean up her small bit of mess.

"I am hungry," Zoe shrugged, sitting at the table to dig into her food. The last time she had eaten is hours ago before she left Lemon's house at breakfast time and it was the afternoon.

Wade gave a half shrug and dug into his food, polishing his sandwich off with two bites, Zoe shook her head at him as she slowly ate her sandwich. With one drink of his juice, he downed over half his juice, reaching for a brownie, still warm from the oven.

"Small bites, Wade," Jackie stated, moving past them to the laundry room to switch out a loud of laundry. Wade rolled his eyes at his mother's words, Zoe giggling into her own brownie.

They were just finishing up their food, when Earl walked in. Zoe and Wade sharing a confused look with each other seeing the woman that entered the house before Earl. She is the same woman they spotted Earl with at the shop.

"That is not Wade?" She asked, amused at the sight of Wade. Earl nodded his head, soft chuckles echoing around the room.

"You know who I am?" He asked, eyes darting from the strange woman to his father, glancing over at Zoe a time or two. "How?"

"Tessa," Jackie smiled, pulling the woman into a hug. "Don't be silly, Wade, this is your Aunt Tessa," she told her son.

"To be fair, the last time I saw you, you fit in the crook of my arm," she laughed lightly.

"She was your Uncle Moe's wife," Earl told the room, mainly the two at the table. Wade frowned at that because he didn't know that Uncle Moe ever had a wife, they had just spent the weekend at his house at the beginning of the summer and there was nothing at his house to ever suggest that he had been married at any point in his life.

"You must by Zoe," she said, giving Zoe a look.

"That's me," Zoe nodded, moving from the table, not bothering to ask how Tessa knew who she is, putting a few pieces together. Earl, summed it up nicely. "It was nice to meet you, Tessa, but I should head home," she said moving to the front door, not wanting to intrude on the family moment, now that they knew that Earl hadn't been cheating on Jackie. Those answers that she needed, she had and whatever questions Wade needed answered, he would get them now that he knew nothing was going on.

"Sweetie, you don't have to go," Jackie told her.

"I know," Zoe smiled, glancing at Wade to see he is more interested in his empty glass. She didn't explain the sudden need to be home or make up an excuse to go home, it just felt like she needed to be home letting them have their family moment.

She frowned, when she got close enough to her house to see that her mom is home and waiting for her on the porch, a serious look on her face. A look that made her wish she had stayed at the Kinsella house. Because nothing good ever came from the look Candice is giving her now. Zoe said nothing and took a seat on the porch, waiting for her mom to start talking.

"Ethan called," her mom said slowly. "He's going to be in town at the end of the month, wants to see you, see us," she went on to say. Zoe growing silent, wanting to feel an array of emotions, but settling on the anger she felt over Ethan leaving the way he had.

"I am not going back!" Zoe yelled, jumping to her feet. She may not have wanted to move to Bluebell, but now that she spent time in the tiny town, made friends and got to know her father, she didn't want to be anywhere else. A part of her still hurt for Ethan, to have him in her life once more, and she wanted to share things with him, but he made the choice for the both of them.

"No one said anything about leaving, Zoe," Candice berated her daughter. "I am trying to make things with Harley work, but Ethan wants to talk to you, to explain things to you, when you are ready to hear him out," she went on to explain.

"Honey, no one is going to take you away," Harley soothingly told her, joining them on the porch, not able to stand back watch his daughter get so upset, the need to assure her that she is staying with him, to much to handle, wanting to hold her tightly. Zoe instantly went to her father, wrapping her arms around him. "You don't even have to see him," he whispered.

"But," Zoe sighed, knowing there is more to what her father is trying to tell her.

"But, you were hurt when he left and I think it would do a world of good to talk to him. He might surprise you," he told her. "And that is okay, to want a relationship with him, Zoe, he took care of you and I can't imagine it's been easy on him. Think about it," he suggested, pressing a kiss to her head. He wouldn't hold her back from wanting to continue the relationship she has with the man she once called dad. He couldn't do that to Zoe.

"Okay," she whispered. She could think about it, but she didn't know if she could go and talk to him and hear his excuse on why he left and wanted nothing to do with her for the past few months. She didn't know if she is ready to handle anything to do with Ethan.

"Now, get your bags taken care of, and put your dirty clothes where they belong," Harley told her. Zoe laughed, moving from her father's embrace to get her things taken care of, coming back to kiss her father's cheek before disappearing inside the house.

"I don't know if I am ever going to have a relationship with my daughter," Candice sighed, shifting into Harley's embrace the second he sat down next to her. Harley wrapped an arm around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, before resting his head against hers.

"You need to give her time," he said. "She's been through a lot, and it's not easy for her, Candice. This was a huge secret and a lie you kept from her. It takes time, and you can't rush it. We have to take it day by day," he told her.

"I'm trying, Harley, I'm trying," Candice whispered. "It's just not enough."

"She's got a dance coming up next Friday; why don't you take her on a shopping trip this coming weekend to find the perfect dress and shoes, have a mother daughter, bonding time," he suggested. He wanted both of them to be happy. It felt wrong being the only one to be happy to have his family whole.

"We could make a weekend out of it," Candice smiled. "Some shopping and get a Mani/Pedi done," she nodded, liking the way that sounded. It was something they hadn't done in quite some time.

"I am sure she would like that," Harley commented. "Just don't force her into anything she doesn't want to do, because it's only going to push her away from you and that is the last thing that we need to happen."

"I know, it needs to come naturally," Candice stated, rolling her eyes slightly. "I do know how my daughter works," she bitterly scolded.

"I didn't mean anything like that, Candice," he frowned, shaking his head.

"It sure sounded like it," Candice huffed, going to get up only for Harley, to place a hand on her shoulder, keeping her in place. "I know you didn't mean it like that, but I hate that my relationship is strained with my daughter. And I only have myself to blame for it. I hate it, okay?" She asked, getting to her feet to enter the house.

"Okay," Harley sighed, waiting a few minutes before he got up and entered the house, torn between checking on his daughter or the woman that is the love of his life. In the end he settled for heading to his home office to go over a few files.


	7. Dancin' to the tune of a Linebacker

_**Guys and gals, I am so very sorry for the multiple months wait for this chapter. All I can say as to why it's taken me so long is life has been crazy and it doesn't want to slow down.**_

 _ **To me, this chapter feels more like a filler, but I did enjoy writing it once I got into the flow of things.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

Going dress shopping with her mom hadn't been that bad, in fact she had fun with her mom, it had been like the times they had went shopping together in New York, just with less stores. By the time they found a dress they could both agree on, Zoe had been rather tired of trying on dresses. They both agreed on a sleeveless dress, with floral print, and vertical big black and white stripes and a skinny black belt around the waist. Zoe liked that it had a 1950s vintage rockabilly swing vibe to the dress. Once they found the dress, they moved on to find a cute pair of shoes to go with the dress.

"You look beautiful, sweetie," Harley smiled, seeing his daughter glammed up for her first school dance.

"Thanks Dad," Zoe replied, grabbing a white cardigan to slip on.

"I will be picking you girls up after the dance for your sleepover," Harley reminded her.

"Okay," Zoe nodded, having already gone through this just a few hours ago. "That's Dr. Breeland," she said, hearing a car pull to a stop.

"Have fun, sweetie," Candice told her, only to stop her and fuss over her daughter's hair, trying to get some stray hairs back into place, as Zoe had her hair in a sleek bun.

"Bye," she told her parents, rushing out the door, not giving Lemon the chance to make it to the front door.

"Hello, Zoe," Brick greeted, once Zoe was in the car. Zoe bucked up saying hi before jumping into excited chatter about the dance. "Harley will be here a quarter to 9 to pick you four up," Brick stated.

"We know, Daddy," Lemon smiled at him, opening her door to get out.

"Enjoy your night girls, have fun Lemon drop," Brick told them. Waiting a few minutes after they entered the school before leaving.

Zoe looked around the gymnasium frowning. It wasn't so much a dance as it was everyone hanging out with their friends as the music played. The only ones really dancing were the chaperones as they moved about to make sure everyone was behaving. And she couldn't spot Wade anywhere. Meatball and his buddies were there, smirks firmly in place as they planned something, Zoe didn't want to know what.

"Let's get some punch and find a table," Annabeth suggested. The other three agreeing.

"Who do you keep looking for?" Crickett questioned, as they got their punch, along with some chips and cookies.

"No one," Zoe lied. "Just curious to know who is all here," she shrugged, walking to an empty table. "Like George," she said, watching him enter by himself.

"That's not it because when George entered the gym you looked all gloom, you're waiting on Wade," Lemon smirked.

"I might be curious as to why he isn't here, and I might find him cute, but we are not in anyway old enough to have boyfriends and to be going on dates. We're still kids for crying out loud," Zoe huffed. That is the truth and with Wade keeping his distance from her and vice versa just because she really didn't know what to say to him now that the truth is out there.

"Zoe's right," Annabeth said. "We have years to obsess over gross boys," she giggled. "Let's go have a dance party," she smiled, pulling her friends out to the dance floor as they stood in circle and silly danced to the songs being played.

Like any time that your having fun with your friends, it's time to go before you ever want to as the only thing you want to be doing is keep having fun with your friends. But the last thing that Zoe wanted to do was make her dad worried so they called it a night and left the dance, seeing Harley waiting for them.

The ride back to the Wilkes house was more subdued as they were exhausted from having fun at the dance. Very little had been said as they got ready for bed as they happened to crash once their heads hit their pillows. Rehashing the night would wait until morning over breakfast.

Saturday morning Zoe spent it playing with her friends. It wasn't until after lunch they went home and Zoe wanting to see what is going on with Wade, took off for the Kinsella house after letting her mom know where she was going.

"He's not here," Jesse told her before she could make it all the way up the front steps. "He won't be back until tomorrow. He left Friday after school to go on a fishing weekend trip with dad," he filled her in more.

"And here I thought he didn't show at the dance was because he didn't want to be friends," Zoe remarked, turning to head home. She only showed up at the Kinsella home to see how Wade was after finding out what he thought to be true, turned out to be nothing more than family.

"I can't help you with that," he replied. "Just don't get to offended if he does push you away, because he's great at that," Jesse shrugged. He should know, as much as it should be the oldest pushing the youngest away, it had been the opposite when it came to Wade as Jesse didn't mind hanging out with his younger brother, as they had always been the best of friends, until recently when Wade started to close himself off and push Jesse away.

"Thanks Jesse," she told him, heading home.

Her thoughts about Wade avoiding her heavy on her mind. Going fishing with his dad wasn't something that she could fault him for doing. With Wade accusing him of cheating they had things as father and son they needed to hash out, but she thought that he knew that she was there for him through it all. She sighed, walking up the front steps of home, her mom's voice trailing out through the screen door.

"I can't make you stay away from Zoe, but you sure in the heck can stay away from me Ethan." Her mom's voice trailed out. Instead of going inside and facing whatever was going on there, she headed down the steps to find a place to hide for a few hours to avoid as much as possible if not everything.

"Sorry, 'bout that," a male voice said, grabbing the football that had missed her by an inch.

"It's okay," Zoe shrugged. Looking up at the older teen standing before her playing with the football in his hands. "Lavon Hayes," she smiled with a dusting of a blush on her cheeks.

"Everyone knows Lavon Hayes," he chuckled. Being one of the best linebackers for the high school, it was common to get noticed, especially in a town so small. "And you're Zoe," he smiled. "Nice to finally meet you," he told her holding a hand out.

"You as well," she told him shyly, shaking his hand. She knew he knew who she was, being the daughter of the town doctor who shows up after 8 nearly 9 years being talk of the town is bound to happen.

"I don't like to listen to the gossip around here," he told her. "Want to play?" He asked. Zoe went to shake her head because she didn't want to get hurt playing with a bunch of teens. "Don't freight, they're your age, it's a youth group," he told her.

"I don't really play and I've barely gotten the cast off my arm," she told him.

"No worries, you can be my assistant coach," he countered.

"Okay," she nodded, finding no fault in helping out. Other than, "I don't really know all that much about football," she said. She knew how to play the game and the rules from watching but she didn't know anything about being an assistant coach.

"It's not that hard, you'll see Big Z," he told her, getting her to follow after him.

Lavon had been right, it had taken her very little to get into helping him coach and even spotting penalties, finding her Saturday afternoon an enjoyable one, all while her thoughts and worries dealing with Wade vanished from her mind as she not only made some new friends but memories she would have never gotten to make if they hadn't moved to Bluebell, maybe it was time to let the anger and distrust with her mom go.


	8. Happy Birthday

**I really hadn't planned on taking over a month to update. I am trying to get back into a routine with my stories. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Think you're going to need more invitations, sweetie?" Candice asked her daughter, neatly putting the invites in a stack after addressing them, getting another one to do the same with.

"I'm good, not sure I'll be needing all of these," she said, holding up the stack of them that her mom handed her. "Ten of them would have been plenty," she informed her mom, stuffing the invites into her bag. "I don't understand why I need to invite my friends when you've already done it," she commented. It made no sense to her and a waste of paper to double invite people.

"We can't be rude, Zoe," Candice scolded her. "Don't you want to invite your friends to your birthday party?" Her mom asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't say we were being rude," Zoe replied, grabbing her bag. "Of course I want to invite my friends, but they're already being invited. It's a bit of waste, don't you think?" She asked, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Not at all," Candice frowned. "It may be your special day, but it will make them feel as if you want them there instead of making them think that they have to come because their parents are coming."

"I hardly doubt any of my friends would think like that," she responded; her old friends from New York would, but her friends here in Bluebell aren't even close to being that conceded. "Does Lemon, Annabeth or Crickett really need a second invite? I highly doubt Wade will show up, unless being forced to do so," she commented, walking to the front door.

"I thought you two were friends, what happened?" Her mom asked, following her daughter to the front door.

"Honestly, I have no idea," Zoe sighed. Wade went about his day ignoring Zoe, unless their friends were around then he made it a point to say more than a word to her. Even when she spent the late afternoon/early evening with the Kinsella's, Wade choose to stick to his room with the door closed unless his mom made him play nice, and then she could feel it was forced.

"I'm sorry sweetie," Candice told her. Zoe shrugged, there wasn't anything she could tell her mom nor was there anything her mom could tell her to make Wade be her friend again. "I've got the day off, after school we can have a few hours for mother/daughter time," she commented.

"I'm going to Lemon's house after school today for our science project," she let her mom know. She had been going to Lemon's the last two days to sort out the project, as they really didn't want to do some lame volcano like the rest of the class. "I'll call to let you know when I'll be home," Zoe told her mom, pulling the door open. Dinner at the Breeland house is hard to get out of.

"Okay, have a good day at school," Candice said, watching her daughter walk across the grass instead of on the walkway to the sidewalk. "It's just us for dinner tonight," she told Harley, having shut the door and entered the dining room to see him sorting through the invitations.

"That is why I made reservations for the night. Zoe will be spending the night at the Breelands home," he shared. He wasn't one for letting his daughter stay at a friend's house on a school night, but he knew that Zoe couldn't get away with anything and would be at school tomorrow. He had no reason to worry about her spending the night with Lemon.

"Is that so?" Candice asked, wrapping her arms around Harley's waist. "And how should one dress?" She asked.

"The fancier the better," Harley smirked, kissing her. "I'll be home about 6 O'clock; I'll call if I'm going to be any later, but I want to drop these off," he informed her, holding up the invites for his family.

"I will get the rest of them delivered," she told him. Harley nodded, sharing a kiss with her. "Have a good day at work," she told him, breaking the kiss.

"Have a good day, I love you," Harley smiled, moving from Candice's embrace to get his briefcase and head off to work.

"I love you too," Candice replied, sitting down at the table to finish off the last few invites.

* * *

"Hey Lemon, I'll catch up with you," Zoe told her friend, coming to a stop at the Kinsella house.

"Okay, don't be late or daddy will worry and call Officer Bill to search the town for you," Lemon warned.

"I promise I won't be long, no need to make both our dads worried over nothing," Zoe retorted, climbing the steps. "Oh!" She gasped, nearly running into Earl. "Hey Earl, is uh Wade home?" She asked.

"He's in his room, Zoe," Earl smiled. "I should warn ya he's in a mood and grounded for the next two months," he informed her.

"My birthday party is this weekend, can he come to that?" Zoe asked, wanting to make sure before giving the invite to Wade. The last thing she wanted to do was cause more trouble for Wade.

"Your mom did drop off the invitation a few hours ago," Earl nodded. "It's still being discussed but I'm pretty certain he'll be there," he let her know.

"I actually have an invitation for him," Zoe said, trying really hard not to roll her eyes at how bizarre it sounded to be giving people two different invitations for the same party.

"He might not talk; it might very well be grunts and eye rolls, but you can go on up," he told her.

"Thanks," she smiled, heading into the house. "Jackie, it smells like heaven in here," she smiled breathing in the deep chocolate smell that wafted through the house.

"Do help yourself, sweetheart," Jackie told her, pointing to the cooled off brownies on the table, as she tended to the tray of cookies she pulled from the oven. "I had the urge to bake, and I couldn't decide on what to make," she laughed. "I'll have some ready for when you go," Jackie informed her.

"You don't have to do that," Zoe protested, swallowing the bite of brownie she had taken.

"Nonsense, I want to do it; my boys do not need this many sweets in the house," Jackie waved it off.

"I simply can't refuse that," Zoe smiled, finishing off her brownie and heading upstairs to Wade's room.

Entering his room, she took a deep breath, pulling her school bag off to dig through her stuff to find the invite for Wade. She placed it on his desk, seeing as he wasn't going to take it from her when she held it out to him. He sat on his bed with a scowl on his face glaring at her.

"I'm sorry for whatever I did to make you hate me," she told him, turning to leave his room.

"I don't hate you," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know you well enough to hate you," he told her. "Or like you, for that matter."

"We can change that," she told him, turning around to face him.

"We can, but I don't see the big deal in doing so, I've got my friends, and you wouldn't fit in with them," he smirked.

"Lemon and George are your friends, and I fit in with them just fine," she retorted, rolling her eyes at him.

"Yeah well I've known them since I was in diapers, it's different," he shrugged.

"I can't help that I wasn't born here to be your friend," she sassed at him. "Maybe you're right about not fitting in with your so-called friends, Wade. I wouldn't want to be friends with those juvenile delinquents any how," she retorted.

"They're better than your judgemental self," he hissed, grabbing a comic book from his night stand.

"Come or don't come to my party, see if I care," she told him dropping every emotion from her tone as she shouldered her bag and headed back downstairs.

"He's going through something," Jackie sighed. "He'll come around," she said, hoping it to be true and that her son wouldn't be this self-centered for the rest of his life.

"I sure hope so," Zoe shrugged. "I should go the Breelands are waiting on me," she informed Jackie.

"Alright, take care," she told Zoe handing over a small container of brownies and cookies. "Enjoy them," she smiled, walking Zoe out.

"I will, thank you," Zoe smiled, rushing down the front steps.

"You're welcome, Zoe," she called after Zoe shutting the door, looking up the stairs deciding against having the same talk with her son, she's had numerous times at the moment. She had faith, he would sort it out himself before it got worse.

* * *

By the time they had cake and ice cream, Zoe found herself having a blast with her friends and her cousin Vivian, plans for Halloween were in the process of being made between them. She did keep an eye out on who showed up. She did feel disappointed that she had yet to see Wade show up despite his family being there. She really tried to push it away but after everything and time spent with Wade she cared about him as a friend, she couldn't turn it off as easily as Wade could. She didn't understand why he kept pushing her away for. Everything she did was to help him out; she did it because she wanted to do it, not to hold it over him for the rest of time.

"Candice and I would like to thank all of you for coming and celebrating our daughter Zoe's birthday," Harley started to say getting the attention of everyone at the party. "We," he smiled, taking Candice's hand while smiling at her. "Didn't want to take away from Zoe's day, but we would like to announce with Zoe's permission that is," he said, sharing a look with Zoe.

"We do need another reason to keep the party going," she laughed, getting curious looks from her friends. Her parents had sat down with her the night after she spent it at the Breeland home, and she's happy for her parent's and ready to start this next chapter in their lives. She may have e been mad at her mom for lying to her about who her dad is, but she could see how much better of a fit Bluebell happened to be for them.

"One cannot take the city out of the girl," Candice teased.

"That may be so, but we're all a little country," Harley laughed. "Getting back on topic, we're getting married next summer," he announced.

Long after presents were open and rounds of congratulations ended, Zoe finally found her way to bed, feeling dead on her feet. She would find places to put the gifts in the morning. She frowned walking to her bed seeing a present in the middle of it. There wasn't a name, so she had no clue as to who left it for her. She gasped seeing the mainly black-and-white drawing of the New York skyline morphing into the waters edge of Alabama. The only color in the picture is of the sun setting with purples and oranges casting a reflection on the water. She didn't need to see the name in the corner of the drawing to know that it came from Wade.


	9. Who says I hate you?

_**Hey all, I am sorry with the small wait for this chapter, but honestly it took me a minute to figure out what I wanted to do with it and how I want a select few friendships to move forward. Honestly, Zade is going to have a very rocky road ahead of them moving forward throughout the whole story as that has always been the plan with those two, and after saying that I am looking forward to the possiblities it does bring forth.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

"Your house is back the other way, Princess," Wade smirked. "And I saw your dad is home," Wade said approaching his house seeing Zoe on his porch.

"It's a small town, makes it kinda hard to forget where one lives," she retorted. "It is his day off," she shrugged, already knowing the information Wade recited to her.

"So why aren't at home having a tea party?" He questioned, keeping his distance. All he wanted to do was enter his home and get his grounding over with, not be held up and get stuck with days added on. He did want to enjoy his Halloween and not be stuck handing candy out. "Or playing doctor?" He smirked, putting his right foot on the first step.

"Think maybe it's because I want to talk to you?" She snapped, rolling her eyes. She thought about giving up on gaining Wade's friendship, but her determination wouldn't let her give up.

"Then say it and be on your merry little way," Wade snorted. "I've got a punishment to serve."

"I want to thank you for the picture," Zoe told him, stepping closer to where Wade stood at the bottom of the steps.

"It was nothing," he shrugged, leaning against the railing. A way to pass the time where he was stuck in his room. Even if it did take more time than a random sketch would take, and a bit more research into the right skyline of New York, he wanted to use.

"Wade, it is everything," she told him softly. It is special; he spent time not only drawing it but thinking of it. She would have never thought of it, and Wade had and not only that, but he took the time to get the skyline just right of the city something you couldn't do if you didn't want to because he would have to look at pictures for it to happen.

"Yeah well, don't go making a big deal about a silly picture," he grumbled. "You helped me; I owed you and used your birthday gift as an excuse to pay you back, that's it," he stated, storming past her.

"Why do you hate me for?" Zoe asked, making Wade stop with his hand on the door knob. "If it's for the way I treated you the first day I was here, I am sorry again, for what I said," she apologized once more for something she had thought they were passed.

"Not quite princess," he stated. "That's history like everything else," he said, pushing his front door open. "Who says I hate you?" He questioned, taking a step into his house.

"What does that mean, Wade?" She asked, getting no response from Wade as he entered the house sending the door shut without looking back.

Huffing Zoe stomped her way down the steps and headed for home. She thought about going after Wade to get the answers out of him, but she thought better of it, having a very good feeling that he wouldn't tell her any ways. Wade had to be the one person in town that infuriated her the most. She had no idea what she had done wrong to make him not want anything to do with her after making amends and helping him out when she didn't have to.

"Everything okay sweetheart?" Harley asked, seeing his daughter walk into the kitchen looking lost in her thoughts.

"Uh yeah," she smiled at her dad, looking in the fridge for a snack. "Just school stuff," she shrugged. The idea of telling her dad about what transpired with Wade as appealing as it sounded to get his opinion on it all, she didn't want to bother her father with some stupid kid drama. And he would go to Jackie and Earl, and that was the last thing she needed was for Wade to be mad at her for telling her parents on his behavior, yeah; no thank you.

"I am here if you want to talk, even if it is school stuff," he informed her.

"I know," she told him, making her exit only to get stopped.

"Hold up, we need to talk," Harley told her, motioning to the stool at the counter.

"What's going on?" She asked with a frown. She couldn't recall doing anything that would warrant her needing to have a chat with her dad.

"I promise you're not in trouble," he chuckled, drying his hands. She nodded looking at him curiously. "You're cousins Vivian and Winnie will be spending the week with us," he informed her.

"Okay," she nodded with a smile. She got along with Vivian just fine; they hung out at school during recess as they are in different classrooms. Winnie was a different story as the age gap kept them from really spending time together. "When will they be here?" She asked.

"In two hours, so clean your room," Harley stated giving his daughter a pointed look.

"It is clean," she retorted. Harley said nothing, raising an eyebrow at his daughter. "Fine," she huffed, slipping from the stool. "When's mom going to be home?" She asked.

As Zoe went to school, her mom headed for the airport in Mobile needing to go back to New York for a few days, mostly to finalize the divorce to Ethan and to have a look at wedding dresses in the city. It hurt some to know that her mom is looking at wedding dresses without her, but Candice had promised that she wouldn't pick one out without Zoe being there.

"Not for a few days," Harley told her.

"You dad are one brave man for dealing with three girls by yourself," Zoe laughed, rushing up to her room to clean up what little mess, she had noticing the air mattress folded up on her bed, that needed to be inflated, the air pump next to it.

"What's going on with you and Winnie?" Zoe asked, amazed at how annoyed Winnie had become with them and stormed out of Zoe's room to find somewhere else to be.

"The joys of siblings," Vivian sighed with an eye roll. "You'll understand the day your parents decide to have another kid," she commented.

"Can't say I'd mind; I'd only have to deal for a few years before leaving for college," Zoe shrugged.

"True," Vivian nodded, looking around her cousin's room, coming to a stop at her desk. "Wade did this for you?" Vivian asked, looking at the picture Zoe had sitting on her desk.

"Yeah, for my birthday," Zoe nodded, moving to the edge of her bed.

"It's very thoughtful of a boy who does everything in his power to avoid you," Vivian said, turning to give her cousin a pointed look.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Zoe sighed, falling back on her bed. "He's just so infuriatin'," she half growled.

"What is going on there?" Vivian questioned, sitting on her cousin's bed, grabbing a pillow to hug. "One minute you two are pretty much joined at the hip and the next you guys are on the outs, and he watches from afar being your all unseen hero," she smirked, earning herself a groan.

"It's complicated," Zoe said, turning to look at her cousin. "And it is so ridiculous for a friendship to be this complicated as we're only kids. I can't even tell you what's going on. He says he doesn't hate me, but nothing else makes sense," she further explained wanting to see what her cousin has to say about the whole Wade situation.

"I say he likes you and is having a hard time coming to terms with it," Vivian said. "Obviously, he cares, look at the picture sitting on your desk. Someone wouldn't put that much thought into a present if they didn't care," she started to explain. "I just feel like it's hard for him. What happened to make him stop wanting to spend time with you?" She asked, if she had that bit of information, then maybe she could fill in the missing parts and really understand the situation.

"Honestly, I can't say," Zoe said, chewing on her bottom lip turning her head to look at the ceiling. "It's not my place to say, but um," she paused, closing her eyes. Could it really be the situation with his aunt? To be fair she tried to talk to him about it and get past whatever happened there. Maybe she'll have to try a bit harder next time she sees him without anyone around. She would now, but she couldn't exactly ditch her cousins.

"You going to finish with what you were going to say?" Vivian asked curiously, wanting to know what Zoe was going to say.

"It's nothing," Zoe told her, sitting up. "I really don't know how to handle it," she said. "Honestly, I just wanna punch him and make him talk, and at the same time I want to leave him be and give him the space he so desperately feels he wants and just let it be," Zoe shrugged.

"I can't tell you what to do there, Zoe. You have to do whatever you think is best," Vivian told her.

"And there lies my problem," Zoe sighed. "Want to play a game, we have a bunch in the den, or my mom bought me a bunch of makeup; it's the horrible kid stuff," she shrugged.

"Or we can go outside until dinner is ready," Vivian suggested. "And see if Winnie wants to join," she added.

"We can," Zoe smiled, pushing herself up from her bed. She was going to have fun with her cousins for the week and avoid anything to do with Wade until a later date when she had a better understanding and grasp on what she is going to do there.


	10. Trying to Mend a Broken Bond

**Hey guys, sorry for the wait on this chapter. These last few weeks have been crazy with school ending at the end of May, as some of you might know, the last two weeks of school for elementary students can be hectic with field trips and other activities planned. And because of the weather, everything had to move to the last four days of school. So between parks and science centers and even a rocket activity, I haven't had much time to sit down and do a whole lot of writing. And honestly now that summer is so close, I can't say for sure how fast updates will be as it's just too nice to be inside and write especially when you live in the Northern part of the United States and have snow and cold more than you do anything else.**

 **However, do know that I am not going to give up on any of my stories. And I do have a sequel to this one in the works; it wasn't meant to be one, but it just works out so well for it, but no worries as there is plenty more to write for this one.**

 **Furthermore, I am sorry for the way I end this chapter, do know that it does lead into the next chapter perfectly for what I want to happen.**

 **Enough from me and enjoy.**

* * *

Having her cousins staying with them had been a blast, and plans were made for a later date for her to stay with her cousins, a sleepover she couldn't wait for. As fun as she had with her cousins, mainly Vivian, she was just as happy to have them go back home so could finally have her space, not to mention how amazing it was to have her room back without the added mess of her cousins.

When her mom had returned home from New York, she had clothes and other gifts for Zoe. Her favorite one had to be the frame that her mom had purchased in Mobile for the picture Wade given her. With the picture in the frame, she hung it over her desk, giving her a pretty picture to look at when studying for school.

As far as Wade was concerned, she left him alone and gave him all the space he said he wanted. She came to the conclusion that if and when Wade was ready to talk to her then he would approach her and if that never happened, it was his loss not hers, because she tried. She didn't want to be friends with someone who had no interest in being her friend.

Coming home from school her thoughts were on the book she wanted to start reading, as she had checked out as many as she could, which happened to be a total of three books, the most she has ever been allowed to check out. She made sure they were all chapter books, all in the same series.

"Hey Lavon," Zoe smiled, as the older boy caught up with her.

"Hey big Z," he smiled, tossing an arm over her shoulders. "Real quickly want to come to the park on Saturday for a bit of football?" He asked. He did need to be back at the school for football practice. But with as busy as he was going to be this week, he didn't think he would be seeing Zoe again, so he needed to take the chance he had.

"I think I can manage that," she nodded. She did have fun the last time he had asked her to join, and she didn't have any other plans for the weekend.

"Cool be there around 10," he told her racing off once more, not wanting to be late for practice and made to do extra laps.

Zoe laughed shaking her head. The smile she wore easily slipped from her lips, seeing the man sitting on the porch talking to both her mom and her dad.

"Zoe, hi," Ethan said, giving her a half smile, making no move to approach her.

"Hi," she said curtly, taking the steps two at a time. "I'm going to take my stuff to my room," she told them. She really wanted to put off the inativable for as long as could.

"Sweetie," Harley said, following behind his daughter. "Sorry," he apologized, seeing her jump slightly.

"It's okay," she told him softly, placing her backpack on her bed.

"You don't have to talk to him if you don't want to. I don't want you to be uncomfortable; the choice is yours," Harley informed her. Zoe nodded, thinking it over.

As much as didn't want to hear whatever excuse he had come with since the day he walked out on them, there is a little part of her that does want to hear what he has to say. She does just want to move on from what happened that night as she has settled into her life in Bluebell.

"I think it's something that needs to be done, but I'll be okay," she half smiled, throwing her arms around her father. Harley easily hugged his little girl back.

"Okay," Harley nodded. "Why don't you tell me about school on the way downstairs," he encouraged her.

"We played dodgeball in gym," she shrugged. "I went with Lemon and Annabeth to help out in the library instead of going to recess," she told her dad. "It was actually pretty fun," she smiled.

"Who I am to stop you from doing something you like to be doing," he chuckled.

"And next week we might be able to start reading to a first-grade class. I hope we can do it," she beamed.

"I'm sure they'll let you," he smiled, proud of his daughter for taking her time at recess to help a class of first graders.

The giddiness and how proud she felt at what she had done, diminished stepping out on the porch, in its place her nerves took flight, and she started to fidget standing next to her dad.

"I thought we could take a walk," Ethan suggested.

"Okay," she nodded, hurrying down the steps to wait for him. Having privacy away from her parents felt like the right thing to do here because she didn't want anything she has to say to hurt her parents. Forgetting just how nosey the town can be.

"I'm sorry, Zoe," he apologized, once they were far enough away from her home. "I handled the whole situation wrong and while I was taking it out on your mom, I inadvertently took it out on you by accident and there is nothing I can do to change that," he told her.

"I honestly thought you wanted nothing to do with me, and I couldn't figure out why; I still can't figure out why you wanted nothing to do with me," Zoe shared, chewing on her lip.

"Sweetie, it had nothing to do with you. How could it?" He asked shaking his head, hating himself over how he had made her feel. She may not be his by blood, but he raised her and to him she would forever be a daughter figure to him. "I was mad at your mom for deceiving me, deceiving us. You were innocent in all of it. I was hurt, and I did the only thing I could do; I ran, and if I could have taken you with me; I would have, but I legally couldn't do that."

"Yeah well you hurt me by leaving. It made me feel like I wasn't good enough for you," she quipped out, sucking her tears up because she wasn't going to show any sign of weakness in front of the man who left her.

"I am sorry for that Zoe; I am; I cannot take it back; I do, however, want to mend what I broke with us," he told her, motioning to the bench.

"Why?" Zoe asked, sitting on the bench, leaving space between them. "Why come back and mess with the family I have now?"

"Because, Zoe, I love you like the daughter you have been to me. Because, these last few weeks have been miserable, and I have missed you. And you may have your mother and your father, but I just want to be included in your life, Zoe," he told her.

"That's easy for you to say now," Zoe snapped, taking a deep breath, calming herself down. "I may have missed our outings, but I don't want to be let down by you again. How can you be there for me when you live in New York?" She asked softly, losing the anger at him.

"I can always take time off to come here; we can talk on the phone whenever you need me, and you can come to New York on summer vacation for a few days or longer, if that's something you want, Zoe," he told her, making sure she knew that she held all the power here.

"I don't know, Ethan," she told him, his name sounding weird coming from her mouth. "How can you make time for me in New York when you gotta work?" She asked. She didn't want to go only for him to blow her off for work. That would beat the purpose of going.

"I know it never seemed like it over the years, but I do get time off," he lightly chuckled. "Just think about it, okay?" He asked her.

"I can do that," she nodded, standing up. "Ethan," she softly said, gaining his attention. "I don't know what I am going to do, but what I do know is that I missed you, and that I can't stop loving you," she told him, jumping into his lap to give him a hug.

A hug that was far different from the hugs she got from her dad, but yet the very same all wrapped into one. He had been there for her through her whole life, and you can't change that over a lie.

"As I have missed you and will love you forever," he softly told her, gently kissing her temple. "Nothing will ever change that," he promised her.

Zoe shrugged, moving from his lap. She didn't know if that was the truth or not, she couldn't see into the future, and he had left her once so her trust in what he had to say wasn't the best. And when it came to him so would take it day by day and see what happened.

"I can't promise anything, because you did hurt me, and I can't forgive you for that, not yet," she told him, maybe one day she could; she wasn't sure. Ethan nodded, understanding where she is coming from. "Mind letting my parents know that I'll be home before dinner?" She asked him.

"I don't know if it's a good thing to let you go off by yourself, Zoe," he said, concerned about her walking around town alone.

"Nothing like that happens in Bluebell. Everyone watches out for everyone. And right now you're the talk of the town and being watched to make sure you don't make me cry," she smirked a little, catching a glimpse of Dash Dewitt. "Mom and Dad will be okay with me wandering around, and they know where to find me," she told him, trying her hardest to refrain from rolling her eyes. "Trust me, Ethan, this isn't New York," she stated.

"Okay, I'll take your word for it," he told her, looking around the area to see if it were true, and if they were being watched. He couldn't see anyone who seemed to be eyeing them up, as they were doing their own thing. He shrugged; it wasn't like he was doing anything wrong. "I'll see you before I leave, okay?" He asked her.

"Okay," she told him. "Bye Ethan," she said.

"Bye, Zoe," he told her, watching her walk off.

Zoe sat on the bridge, her feet dangling above the calm water, the complete opposite of how she felt. She did spend the last 9 years believing Ethan was her father. A father she adores, a father she thought hung the stars and the moon, all for it to come raining down on her, with her stupid broken arm.

She couldn't recall the countless times she wished upon a star for it to all go back to normal, long before she ever met her dad, now she wouldn't change it for anything, because she loves her family in Bluebell, the whole crazy, wacky clan that is the Wilkes.

But even with all that in mind, there has been something missing since Ethan walked out, and it did feel nice to spend a small chunk of time with him, even if she had voiced her hurt that he caused. A piece of her love would always belong to him.

The truth was that as much as she didn't want to hurt her dad, she did want to slowly ease Ethan back into her life, a little at a time, until she could fully trust him, that is. She hoped it wouldn't hurt her dad when she told him about her decision with Ethan. She could never set out to hurt her father.

She jumped slightly hearing the loud splash followed by the laughter behind her. Seeing just who showed up, Zoe got up to head home.

"Where do you think you're going?" Thomas smirked, setting his dark eyes upon Zoe's frightened form as she tried to move past him.

"Home," she squeaked out, not wanting to cause problems with the one main bully at school. One of them that Wade kept away from her.

"I don't think so," he laughed. "I mean your little lap dog isn't here to save you," he mocked, making the two guys with him laugh.

"I don't need Wade to save me from the likes of you," she stubbornly said, glaring at Thomas.

"Is that so?" He questioned, stepping closer to Zoe, forcing her to take two steps back. "It sure doesn't seem like it," he smirked.

"Why don't you pick on someone tougher than you?" Wade asked, stepping out of the woods, George and Meatball behind him. Wade walked right up to Thomas, getting into the older kids face.

"What'da say?" George asked, standing next to Wade, coming toe to toe with Ben.

"They're too much of a chicken to do anything," Meatball laughed, squaring up to Gregory.

"Next time, Kinsella," Thomas smirked. "I would hate for anyone to witness the beat down I hand to you," Thomas laughed, walking off, his two cronies following behind him.

"Thanks for that, but I should get home," she told Wade, giving George and Meatball smiles as she started to walk off the bridge.

"Hey Zoe, can we talk?" Wade asked, his eyes pleading with her. She nodded her head, walking back to Wade. George and Meatball making excuses to leave them be.


	11. Fries and Tea

**Hey guys, the last chapter might not have made up for the delay in updates, but I do believe that this one will make up for it. You guys should know that the plan with this story was for Zoe and Wade to be on the outs; however, that will not be the case moving forward with this story.**

 **There is a line from the song _Old Doc Brown by Johnny Cash_ , and a bit of word play with _Girls Want to have fun by Cyndi Lauper_. I do not own the rights for either song.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Wade's POV**

"Hey sweetie," Jackie asked, sticking her head into her youngest son's room. Wade groaned hearing is mom call him sweetie. He is 11 and has outgrown all the little baby pet names his parents insist on calling him.

"What's up Mom?" He asked, looking up from his sketchbook to look at his mom.

"I was wondering the same," she said, walking into his room to take a seat on his bed. Having a quick look around, she found herself pleasantly surprised seeing the room clean, everything put away where it belonged and his bed made, without once getting on his case to do so.

"What do you mean?" He asked cocking an eyebrow at his mother. He hasn't done anything to warrant himself a grounding; he hasn't been in trouble at school as of lately.

"You've been withdrawn and that spark that made you my little boy is gone, and I am curious to know what's going on in that head of yours and in your life," she said, giving him a look. She didn't like her youngest being a ghost of his former self. He is by far way to young to be having any sort of crisis. He should be out with his friends enjoying his childhood.

"I don't know what to tell you," he frowned, shrugging.

"Does this have to do with your Aunt?" She asked, barely catching the sigh from her boy. "I thought you worked through that with your dad?" She asked him.

"Can one still call her an aunt since they got divorced?" He questioned. His mom gave him a look letting him know that she wasn't going to let him bypass her line of questions. "I get that she met dad in secret because she was scared we would hate her and wanted nothing to do with her, but again I don't get it because we are family, and that isn't going to change just because of a divorce," he told his mom, picking his pencil up to play with it.

"It's hard to know for sure, especially when you marry into a family, Wade. It's not all black and white," she shared. Wade nodded, letting them lapse into silence.

"And I made a fool of everything," he sighed, seeing his mom was going to remain quiet and stay in his room. "I messed up, but I wouldn't change it," he stated firmly.

"And why is that?" His mom questioned. Wade shrugged, his focus on the pencil he's twirling through his fingers. "I have an idea on why that is, want to hear it?" She asked, a smirk flitting across her face.

"Do I really get a say?" Wade asked with a chuckle, looking at his mom, the pencil laying limp in his hand.

"Wade, you know you get a say, whether I take it under advisement is another story altogether," Jackie laughed, getting an eye roll from her son. "It all boils down to Zoe," she simply stated, standing up. "I don't know what has you on the outs with her, but she had become a friend to you and as your mother, I can see that it bothers you that she isn't in your life the way she had been," she further explained, walking over to her son.

"Mothers know everything, huh?" Wade teased.

"Don't you forget it," Jackie laughed. "Find a way to fix things with Zoe, and I promise you won't regret doing so," Jackie stated, bending down to kiss his head.

"I don't know," he sighed. "She thinks I hate her; I don't think I can do anything to make her see otherwise," he confessed to his mom.

"And do you hate her?" She asked. Wade shook his head. He knew how much his mom didn't like the word hate, not that he didn't dislike Zoe, because he liked her.

"It's kind of impossible to dislike Zoe," he stated. They may have started off on the wrong foot, but taking things from her perspective; she had a bit of right to be that way, and he didn't help it out any. But that is just who he is; he couldn't and wouldn't change that.

"I think you should start by saying sorry," she gave him a pointed look and left him to his thoughts.

Not that he needed to think about anything. He knew what he was going to do and tossing the pencil on his desk, he raced downstairs. "Going to talk to Zoe," he told his mom, as he ran out the door, making his way to find her. He came up short seeing her walking down the sidewalk with some dude he had never seen before. He frowned, turning to head home since Zoe was busy.

"Won't your little girlfriend give you the time of day?" Jesse laughed, exiting the house to see his brother with a scowl on his face.

"Shut up, Jesse," Wade seethed, ready to fight his brother, if it came to that. "At least I can get a girlfriend if I wanted one, what's your excuse?" Wade bit out, a smirk coming out to play.

"How can I pick one, there's so many to choose from," Jesse smirked, leaning against the railing of the porch. "But seriously dude, what's with the long face?"

"Nothing," Wade sighed, slumping down in one of the chairs.

"Lies," Jesse laughed, crossing his left ankle over his right. "Would nothing go by the name of Zoe?" He asked, already knowing the answer to his question. "Dude apologize for being such a dick; she doesn't hate you," Jesse told him.

"You sound like mom," Wade said. "I tried genius; she's talking to some dude, I think it might be her used to be step father," he shrugged, not sure if that is the right term to call him or not.

"Then why the heck are you sitting here pouting?" Jesse asked him, uncrossing his legs to stand at his full height. Wade gave his brother a confused look. What was he supposed to do? Be the creepy kid from Bluebell that watched and waited from a bush to be at her side once she finished talking to the guy? Yeah, he would pass on that.

"I'm not gonna wait on her like a creep, dude," Wade spit out, pushing himself from the chair.

"Thank goodness for that," Jesse laughed. "I was talking about where she would go after talking to her ex-step father," Jesse said, rolling his eyes.

"I might," he considered, skipping down the steps. Heading to the one place she was likely to show up, as that spot was one they had in common, one he has been avoiding because he didn't know what to say to Zoe.

He took a shortcut, coming across George and Meatball. It was weird to see those two together as they weren't exactly friends. They stopped talking once they spotted Wade coming their way. "Do I even want to know?" He asked looking between his two friends.

"We were looking for you," Meatball nodded. "And hey we found you," he beamed, pulling Wade into a hug.

"Uh yeah, I don't believe that for a second," Wade laughed. "I have been home and neither one of you came by my house," he pointed out.

"Fine," George sighed. "We're tryin' to see if we can be friends so you don't have to ditch one of us to hang with the other," he explained, shrugging.

"Weird, but whatever," Wade chuckled. "The fact you two are arguing in the middle of the woods explains everything," he said his laughter subsiding. "Enjoy, that," he chuckled once more, moving to walk around them.

"You in a hurry to get somewhere?" George asked, quickly catching up to him, Meatball behind him.

"Nope," he said popping the 'p'.

"Don't seem like it," Meatball smirked. "What's the big secret you can't say?" He egged his friend on.

"It's nothing, honestly," Wade told them, getting annoyed. He didn't need his friends to pry into what he was going to do. Honestly, his nerves were getting the best of him at the prospect of maybe getting a chance to talk to Zoe. Teasing from his friends he didn't need, and it wasn't wanted. "Do you guys hear that?" He questioned, hearing laughter.

"People having fun?" George asked, amused with the way his friend is acting over a couple of people having fun.

"It's not just that," Wade frowned, having a bad feeling about the situation.

"Dude, you're crazy," Meatball laughed.

"That may be so," Wade mumbled under his breath, coming to the bridge to see Tommy, Ben and Greg cornering and tormenting a very frightened Zoe, through the trees. He wasted very little time making his way to the edge of the woods.

"I don't need Wade to save me from the likes of you," he heard Zoe stubbornly say glaring at Thomas. Just hearing his name made his blood run cold, they had no reason to be talking about him to Zoe, and he knew first hand that she didn't need anyone, let alone him to save her from anyone.

"Is that so?" Questioned Thomas. Wade growled under his breath seeing Zoe taking steps backwards when Tommy got close to her. "It sure doesn't seem like it," he smirked. Wade having heard and seen enough, made his presence known. There was no way that he could take anymore of it and there was no way he was going to walk away with Zoe looking scared out of her mind.

"Why don't you pick on someone tougher than you?" Wade asked, stepping out of the woods, George and Meatball behind him. Wade walked right up to Thomas, getting into the older kids face. He'd fight Thomas; it wouldn't be the first time he did it either. He thought he was so much better than the rest of them just because his dad was the mayor.

"What'da say?" George asked, standing next to Wade, coming toe to toe with Ben. Wade felt relief knowing that at least George had his back, and he didn't doubt Meatball's loyalty either; they've been in a few fights together.

"They're too much of a chicken to do anything," Meatball laughed, squaring up to Gregory. Wade chuckled, cracking his knuckles as he waited on Thomas and his goons to make the first move.

"Next time, Kinsella," Thomas smirked; Wade scoffed. "I would hate for anyone to witness the beat down I hand to you," Thomas laughed, walking off, his two cronies following behind him. Wade rolled his eyes, watching them walk off. When he turned back to Zoe, the relief that flashed through her brown orbs was gone, and instead she looked nervous and shy.

"Thanks for that, but I should get home," she told Wade, giving George and Meatball smiles as she started to walk off the bridge.

"Hey Zoe, can we talk?" Wade asked, his eyes pleading with her. She nodded her head, walking back to Wade. George and Meatball making excuses to leave them be.

Now that he had her attention, he didn't know what to say. Knowing what needed to be said and saying the words were two very different things, and he couldn't do it. This is what he wanted, he was beyond relieved to have Zoe stay, thinking that she would leave and not give him a chance to explain his behavior towards her. If that had been the case, he would have walked with her since they do live a few houses apart and quickly say what needed to be said. He wasn't sure which one was better.

"Are you going to say anything, or will we be sitting here in silence?" Zoe asked with a small huff.

"We wouldn't get anywhere if words weren't exchanged," Wade sighed, raking a hand through his hair. Maybe he should have listened to his mom last week when she told him he needed one.

"Then speak," Zoe urged him, glancing at him from the corner of her eye, catching how nervous he happened to be all of sudden.

"Zoe," he said taking a break, his mouth drying out on him. "You hungry?" He asked, everything he had worked the courage up to tell her getting lost in the jumbled mess of his mind.

"Will you say whatever you gotta say to me then?" She asked, fully looking at him. Wade nodded. Zoe felt bad for him, seeing how he was freaking out sitting next to her. "Loaded fries from the Jammer and some sweet tea sounds really good right now," she told him. "But you're buying," she smirked at him, getting up to dust the dirt off her pants.

"Deal," Wade laughed, getting up and brushing the dirt off himself. "Hey, mind telling me who you were talking to earlier?" He asked as they walked. "Not that you have to," he quickly made sure she knew that choice was hers to make about telling him.

"That would be Ethan," she shared. As much as she was still mad at Wade for ignoring her and only coming to her when he saw fit, it would be nice to talk to someone about the things running around her head about Ethan. "He's the one I was led to believe was my father, and once he found the truth out ran out on us, and now he's back wanting to make amends and wants me to stay in his life and I don't know what to do," she sighed, wrapping her arms around herself as they walked.

"That's tough," Wade commented. He wouldn't know what to do if he were in a situation like that. "Do you think he means it?" He asked her instead.

"For now, I think he does. Until he realizes again that I am not his daughter. I want to trust him because I do love him, but I'm uncertain of his true intentions here," she sighed.

"What you think that if he makes good with you that he thinks he can win your mom back?" Wade asked, it wasn't that far of a stretch to think like that. Zoe said nothing, giving him a small nod.

"I know it's wrong of me," she sighed. "But I can't help it," she softly told him.

"Hey now, it's not wrong of you. He hasn't exactly given you any other reason to believe he's doing this solely for you," Wade calmed her down. "I'm sure once you talk this over with your parents, you'll know what to do," he told her.

"Except I don't want to hurt my dad," she shared.

"I've known Harley for years, and he'll be more hurt that you didn't come to him about this," Wade stated.

"Yeah, maybe," Zoe sighed, walking into the Jammer, when Wade opened the door and allowed her to walk in first.

Wade looked around the place and found a booth far enough away from everyone else to have as much privacy as one could get with townsfolk eyeing you up. They sat in silence waiting for their order to be taken; a large basket of loaded fries and two sweet teas.

"I'm sorry," Wade blurted out as they waited on their fries, their tea having been placed in front of them minutes ago. Zoe rose an eyebrow at him, wanting him to elaborate. "For making you think that I didn't like you. I, do, like you that is," he quickly told her.

"That's good to know," she smiled. "But why have you been pushing me away for?" She asked him, almost afraid to hear the answer to her question.

"Because I was ashamed of myself for thinking that my dad could ever possibly cheat on my mom, and I didn't want to be ridiculed or want your pity," he honestly told her. "And I was wrong in pushing you away, because we were friends. And I went and screwed it up," he sighed.

"Wade," Zoe started to say, only for the basket of fries to be dropped off in the middle of the table. Both giving the waitress a smile and a polite thank you. "You didn't screw anything up," she softly said, stabbing a fry with her fork. "I like being friends with you, and that whole mess was well a mess, and I forgive you," Zoe told him, lightly blowing on her fry to cool it down so she could eat it.

"You do?" Wade asked hopeful. There were still things that he needed to say. He hasn't for a second thought Zoe would forgive him so easily.

"As long as you don't do it again," she said, taking a bite of her fry.

"I won't," he smiled, using his fork to get a fry. Getting Zoe's forgiveness, was a breath of fresh air, and he could finally breathe for the first time in such a long time. "When did you get your cast off?" Wade asked, realizing for the first time since coming to her rescue that she is cast free.

"Last week," she told him, swallowing the fry, she had taken a bite of. "Dad was being all paranoid and left it on longer than necessary, so we went when he was on house call last week, and Brick was more than happy to get one over on dad," she laughed.

"Sometimes when it comes to those two, they make it hard to believe they're Doctors," Wade laughed, witnessing more than one prank war between the two town doctors.

"Doctor's just wanna have fun," Zoe sang in a teasing tone.

"Lame," Wade laughed, shaking his head at Zoe. "He was just an old country doctor in a little country town," he sang under his breath.

"Johnny Cash, huh?" Zoe asked, amusement rolling around in her brown eyes. Wade nodded, his focus on the half eaten basket of fries. "Didn't know you could sing," she commented.

"You never asked," he smirked. "I've been trying to convince my mom to let me learn the guitar, but she says I need to learn the piano first," he grumbled.

"Something wrong with that arrangement?" She asked him, eating a fry.

"Everything, considering I don't care about playing the piano," he snapped, giving her a shy smile of sorry. "The piano doesn't interest me the way a guitar does," he shrugged.

"Maybe she'll cave," Zoe commented. An idea forming in her mind. One she needed to talk to Jackie about.

"Wishful thinking," Wade grumbled. "You busy Saturday?" Wade asked her. "I've missed hanging out. I'm sure we can spy on someone," he laughed. He missed hanging out with her; they didn't have to spy on anyone to hang out, but it was what brought them together as friends.

"For a few hours in the morning, I'm free. I already told Lavon I would meet up for football in the park for the camp, mid-morning," she told him. "And I am free after that, so we can do something. And who in the heck would we spy on?" She asked.

"All of them," Wade smirked. Zoe laughed, shaking her head. "Maybe Jesse, I need some blackmail to get back at him," Wade laughed.

"I am really starting to be thankful that I don't have siblings," Zoe commented, laughing. "What are you hoping to catch your brother doing?"

"Anything because he acts like the perfect child, and he has to break the rules," Wade huffed.

"I'm sure we'll catch him doing something," Zoe said, not as sure about that at all.

"You can't make me believe it if you don't believe," Wade pointed out, tossing a fry at her. Zoe glared, grabbing a fry and throwing it at Wade, getting nacho cheese on his shirt. Wade flicked some tea at Zoe.

"Not on my watch," Wally said, hovering over the table. "I will not allow for you two to start a food fight in my establishment, out," he demanded, pointing to the door.

"Sorry, Wally," they quickly apologized and made a beeline to the door. Once safely outside they broke out into a fit of laughter.


	12. Muddy Buddies

"Gah, why did I listen to a bunch of boys?" Zoe asked, looking down at her shorts and tee, seeing the once vibrant colors covered in mud.

"What are you talkin' about?" Wade asked, wiping the mud on his hands off on his pants. "We didn't make you come with us; you're the one that decided you didn't want to join Lemon, Annabeth and Crickett at the little junior Belle meetin'," he stated, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah because I fancy doing that weird dancing they were doing in the middle of town yesterday," she replied sarcastically rolling her eyes. She had been given a choice; her mom wanted her to join; she didn't doubt for a second that if her dad hadn't been there to assure her that just because it's a Wilkes legacy to join, that under no circumstances did she have to join at any point in her life, that her mom would have signed her up. "You said you were fishing, not getting into a fight with mud," she retorted.

"That was the plan," Wade nodded. "But Meatball fell and because he can't take a joke, he tossed mud which I ducked out of the way from, and it hit George, and he retaliated and we couldn't forget about you," he smirked.

"We all know that your dad won't care," George commented, being forced to leave his hands muddy as he couldn't find a place to wipe them clean.

"It isn't my dad I'm worried about," she sighed. "This is going to push her right over the edge," she stated, fearing historical dress in her very near future.

"Did you have fun?" Meatball asked from his spot under a tree sitting in the shade; he looked to be the mud they had been flinging around. She honestly thinks that he has mud up his nose, and that it's going to take weeks for him to get it all out.

"I guess," she shrugged.

"There is no I guess about it, princess," Wade smirked. Unlike in the past, she knew that Wade meant nothing bad about the comment, and it was more of an inside joke between them.

"Yes, I had fun," she huffed. "Happy?" She asked. Wade's smirk grew as he picked up a handful of mud, stalking towards Zoe. "Wade, don't you dare," she warned, taking some steps backwards, only they weren't enough and Wade was there, squishing the mud into her hair. "WADE!" She screeched.

"And what are you doing to do about it?" He taunted.

"Oh nothing," she shrugged. "Except this," she stated, scooping up the biggest clump of mud she could and smashing it into his face, his smirk slipping from his face as he wiped the mud from his eyes.

"It's on," he laughed, launching himself at George tackling him to the ground.

Zoe rolled her eyes, getting as much mud from her hair as she could. She laughed watching Meatball jump on the other two. Deciding that she was already going to get into trouble with her mom she joined the fray, jumping on George's back, Wade getting the upper hand with Meatball.

On their way home, they jumped into a creek to rinse as much mud off as they could. George and Meatball leaving them as they rushed off home. Zoe in no rush whatsoever to get home, she barely escaped being forced into the junior Belles, and she was afraid that her mom wouldn't listen to reason and swear up and down that she needed to learn how to be a respectful lady.

"If we go this way, you can stop at my house and shower. You can borrow some clothes. Ma wouldn't mind washing your muddy clothes with mine," Wade commented, seeing the panic more clearly the closer they got to their street.

"You sure?" She asked. She didn't want to cause more trouble for Jackie; she'd deal with whatever sort of punishment her mom handed to her over causing trouble for Jackie.

"I'm positive; ma likes you," he nudged her with his elbow. "Come on," he urged her, ducking through some brush.

Zoe shrugged and followed after him. She'd make sure that Jackie was fine with it before going through with anything. She also didn't want to lie to her parents, but her mom wouldn't be able to understand what's so fun about playing in mud. Maybe she could tell them half the truth, and that she fell into the mud, because she wasn't watching where she stepped. It would do and she wouldn't feel quite so guilty about it.

"I don't even want to know," Jackie sighed, shaking her head at Wade and Zoe as they walked into the backyard.

"I told Zoe you wouldn't mind washing her muddy clothes with mine. With her mom being from the city, I doubt she'd be able to get the mud stains removed," he told his mom. "So is it alright?" He asked.

"It's fine; I'd need more than your clothes to wash anyhow, and the rest of us don't go running through the mud," she said. "Get her something of yours to wear so she can shower," Jackie told her son.

"On it," he said, motioning for Zoe to follow. "Leave your shoes here," he instructed, toeing his shoes off by the back door, Zoe following suit.

Walking through the house, she tried her hardest not to get mud everywhere, at least what mud she had left on her after jumping into the creek. She stayed in the hall while Wade found her something that would fit. None of his clothes would fit exactly the way her clothes did, but she didn't quite mind, as long as she got out of her muddy clothes.

"Thanks," she smiled, taking the sweats and tee from him, keeping them from getting dirty.

"No problem, really," he shrugged. "You can use my parent's bathroom; it's the only one with girly soap," he said, heading back to grab himself some clothes. "Just grab a towel from the linen closet," he told her, pulling open said closet, to get himself a towel.

With clothes and a towel in hand, Zoe entered Jackie and Earl's room. The one room in their house she had never gone into, out of respect. She didn't linger, just walked straight through to the bathroom to have a shower to get the mud that was drying on her off.

"Zoe, sweetie," Jackie called once Zoe came downstairs fresh from her shower, having borrowed a brush for her hair. Surprisingly enough Wade's clothes fit her better than expected.

"Yeah?" She asked, walking to where the laundry room was located at.

"I called your parents and told them you were here, and that you'd be staying for dinner," she informed Zoe.

"Okay," Zoe nodded. "Where do you want me to put these?" She asked Jackie holding out her muddy clothes and the towel she used.

"I didn't think you wanted to go along with them, as they tried to do some wedding planning stuff as it can rather be dull for a child," she commented. Jackie was right about that. "Toss them in the washer, I'm still waiting on my son's dirty clothes; he's a real diva in the bathroom," she remarked, making both of them laugh.

"He's not so bad," Zoe commented giggling, hearing a few bars of whatever made up song Wade is singing in the shower.

"That one has a world of possibilities in front of him," Jackie smiled.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ma," Jesse feigned hurt, bringing his own dirty clothes into the laundry room.

"You stop it," she chided her oldest. "You've got plenty of possibilities as well, if you applied yourself," she pointedly stated.

"I know Ma," he laughed. "Let me know when the washer is free, and I'll wash my clothes," he said, turning to leave. "Hey Zoe," he called over his shoulder as he left.

"There's cookies and milk if you want a snack, dear," Jackie told her, folding the last of the clothes from the dryer.

"Okay, thanks," Zoe smiled, turning to head to the kitchen, remembering from the first few times she stayed over where they kept everything. "Oh hey," Zoe smiled, seeing Wade walking down the stairs. "Want some milk and cookies?" She asked, walking to the fridge.

"Must you ask?" He smirked. "I'll be right back," he told her, walking around the corner to drop his clothes off with his mom.

"And I'll be here," she commented. Wade shook his head hearing that.

By the time Wade got back from the laundry room, Zoe had the cookies sitting on the table, the package open between two glasses of milk.

"Ma told me that you were staying for dinner," he commented, grabbing a cookie and dunking it into his milk. Zoe nodded her head, doing the same as Wade with a cookie. "Now you don''t even have to tell your mom that you were having fun playing in the mud," he remarked, stuffing the whole cookie in his mouth.

"Wade, you could choke," Zoe scolded him, taking a bite of her cookie before dunking it back into her milk.

"I ain't choking," he laughed, grabbing a second cookie to dunk. "But that's all you gotta say?" He asked, glancing at her.

"I hate lying to my parents, but knowing my mom won't freak out by the fact I enjoyed playing in the mud, is really nice," she confessed.

"I knew it," Wade boasted. Zoe rolled her eyes. "Want to come tadpole hunting with us in the summer?" He asked her.

"Should I be afraid?" She asked him. She had no idea what tadpole hunting was. When it came to fishing, she knew what it was, she didn't know how to fish as she never has been fishing before in her little existence of a life.

"It's where we go to the pond on the mayor's plantation or one of the many swamps around here, mainly the one behind the Pickett's place, because they have the best tadpoles," he explained to her. "And we fill a bucket with tadpoles and water. Once we have enough of them; we bring them back home and fill an old kiddy pool with water and dump them in," he finished telling her.

"Why?" She asked, not seeing the appeal in catching tadpoles and watching them turn into frogs.

"Cause it's fun," he told her in a duh tone. Zoe rolled her eyes.

"And because he knows his mother doesn't like it because it stinks up the backyard," Earl chimed in, walking into the dinning room.

"That explains everything," Zoe laughed. "But I don't know, Wade," she sighed. "Ask me again when summer gets here," she told him.

"Wade go with Zoe so she can change into her own clothes, because we're going to Fairhope for dinner," Jackie ordered, taking the package of cookies, closing it and putting them away. "Go," she stated.

"We'll be back," Wade said, once he finished his milk, waiting on Zoe to drink her milk as well.

They raced to Zoe's place forgoing shoes as Zoe didn't want to put her muddy shoes on, even if the mud was slowly drying and cracking to where it would fall off.

"I won't be long," she told Wade racing up the stairs to get dressed. She pulled her closet doors open and decided to wear her yellow sundress that her mom brought back from New York for her. She did want to look pretty for dinner. "You can come up now; I have to find my sandals," she called out to Wade.

"You really do like the picture," Wade commented in awe seeing it framed and hanging on the wall.

"I love it," she told him, finding her sandals under her bed. "Didn't you believe me?" She asked him with a frown, sitting on her bed to slip her sandals on.

"I thought you were being nice about it," he shrugged.

"Well I wasn't just being nice about it; I adore the picture, and I will for years to come," she stated. "We can go now," she told him.

"It's still nice to know that you liked it enough to hang it on your wall," he shrugged, waiting on Zoe to shut her house door.

"It's both of my worlds coming together, and it's pretty, what's not to love about it?" She asked him. Wade only shrugged, not quite sure how to answer that question. "Oh shoot, your clothes are on my bed," she told him, debating on going back to get them.

"Keep 'em," he said. "They're too small for me anyway," he shrugged.

Once back at the Kinsella's and Wade getting shoes on, they headed out to Fairhope. Before heading to dinner they walked around the city, Zoe thoroughly enjoying her time with the Kinsella family as they did make her feel like she was part of their family.


	13. Fears are not Silly

**I am extremely sorry about the month wait for this chapter. It had taken a backseat while I figured out Hart of a Kinsella. I let myself get engrossed with that story. I wanted to have this chapter up hours ago, but my pup wanted to play and when he wants to play you have to play, so I am sorry about the late update, but it was out of my control.**

 **Before I let you all go I want to say that I do enjoy fishing and I do have a mini panic attack while in the boat fishing and the wave capsizing the boat. I don't really feel comfortable until firmly on land. I even feel that way when ice fishing. Also if you don't know how to say Crappie it's pronounced kraa-pee.**

 **And why this little piece about fishing? You may ask. Well read and find out.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Sweetie, a minute please?" Harley asked, exiting his home office, hearing his daughter enter the house, having made it back from dinner with the Kinsella's in Fairhope. Candice taking a relaxing bubble bath left him to freely go over a few things in his office, from work-related files to bills.

"Sure," she shrugged, putting her small bag on the steps, to grab on her way to her room. They had stopped at a little store, and Zoe bought herself a pale yellow sundress. Wade surprising her and buying her a purple beaded bracelet with a butterfly charm. He told her it was his way of really apologizing for his behavior and ditching her when he found out that he was wrong about his dad. She assured him that his friendship was all she needed from him, but slipped the bracelet on with a smile on her face.

"Mind telling me why there was what I am assuming is Wade's clothes on your bed?" He asked with a smirk. He had already heard the story from Jackie when he talked to her earlier in the day. He did want to see what kind of story his daughter was likely to tell him.

"Well, you see," she started to say, fidgeting before his very eyes. "I, stupidly, let Wade, George and Meatball talk me into playing in the mud," she explained, biting her lip.

"Is that so?" Harley asked with a smirk. He knew his daughter, and he knew that no one would be able to talk her into playing in the mud.

"Kind of but not really. It looked so fun dad, and it was and I am only being a kid after all, like everyone keeps telling me to do. 'Zoe, you should step back from your dreams of being a doctor and just enjoy being a kid' and that's what I did, and I loved it dad. I didn't want Mom to freak out over muddy clothes and make me join the Junior Belles, and Jackie didn't mind tossing my muddy clothes in with Wade's. No harm was done," she quickly said, not wanting to be in any sort of trouble.

"Okay," he chuckled. "You can play in the mud all you want, and next time your muddy clothes can come home; I know a thing or two about getting mud out of clothes," he chuckled. "And I promise I won't let your mom put you in anything that you don't want to be a part of, okay?" He asked her.

"Okay," she nodded, relieved to know that her dad is on her side, and that playing in the mud is no big deal.

"I want you to be a kid," he assured his daughter. "You can go about your business," he told her, laughing as she took off running up stairs.

Getting to her room, she hung up her sundress smiling. Happy that she hadn't gotten into trouble for making a mess with the mud, and that she was free to get away with it if she happened to play in the mud once again and being friends with Wade, she was definite mud would become a factor once more. That among other things, she was certain of. Making her wonder just what would need to happen to set her dad off, not that she was about ready to pull any stunts to figure that out. She preferred not being in trouble with her parents.

She got settled in her bed, only after changing into a pair of pajamas, pulling out _Treasure Island_ to read as much as she could before one of her parents poked their head into her room and told her lights out for the night.

"I will let you read another chapter before turning in for the night," Harley said, giving the door a quick rap to inform his daughter, he was opening it, an hour after she went up to her room.

"Okay, got it," she said, her eyes never leaving the page she was on.

Finishing the chapter, she placed her bookmark between the pages to save her spot and placed it on the nightstand, reaching over to turn her light off, before her dad made his way back to her room to check on her. With the lights off and the light from the moon shinning into her room, she got under her blankets and got comfortable, falling asleep almost immediately after her head hit her pillow.

* * *

"Do you know that you drool in your sleep?" Wade asked, seeing Zoe start to stir.

"What the what?" She asked, bolting up straight, glaring at the boy who gave her a fright sitting at her desk. She did check to see if she had, in fact, been drooling. She wasn't.

"It's past 9, figured you'd have been up by now," he shrugged. "I figured since you didn't get to experience and learn how to fish yesterday, that I would take you today. And no worries about George and Meatball, they won't be with," he told her. "What do you say?" He asked, dropping the pencil he had been spinning around. He couldn't help himself when he was waiting for Zoe to wake and started to doodle over some paper that laid on her desk.

"I don't drool," she huffed, tossing the blankets off and getting up. Wade burst out laughing.

"Should've seen that coming," he nodded. "But what do you say about the fishing lesson?" He asked watching her walk to her closet.

"Do I have to touch the worms?" She asked him, looking over her shoulder at him. Wade shook his head, letting her know that he would bait her hook for her. "Do I need to touch the fish?" She asked, pulling out a tee and pants, making sure they weren't white or black. It may have been November, but it wasn't exactly cold outside, not like in New York.

"You do not need to touch the fish, unless you decide that you want to, Princess," he smirked, getting up. "I'll be waiting downstairs," he told her, exiting her room, shutting the door behind himself.

"Why must I be friends with a boy?" She asked herself, tossing her clothes on her bed.

Really, she didn't care that Wade was a boy; she got along with him almost better than she got along with Lemon and Annabeth, even if that meant she was stuck doing boy things, because she hardly doubted Wade could be talked into playing fashion show or doing make overs. And she was okay with that, because sometimes doing boy things out in the woods, was better and a lot more fun than anything else she did.

Fully dressed she went downstairs, seeing that an omelette had been made for, but she hadn't seen either one of her parents.

"Your mom tried but she burnt it so your dad made it," Wade told her, that did explain the nasty burnt egg smell. "They went for a Sunday morning stroll around town," he informed her. "Now eat so we can get to fishing," he informed her.

"Bossy much?" Zoe laughed, taking a seat at the table to eat her food. Trying to hurry without chocking on her food, as impatient Wade was getting on her last nerve.

"When I want to be doing something other than sitting around doing nothing at all," he smirked.

Zoe rolled her eyes, placing her dirty plate and glass in the sink. She knew she should've quickly washed what little dishes she used, but she couldn't take Wade any longer and to be fair she couldn't wait to be out of the house and into the woods. If only to tease Wade about how horrible of a fisherman he is.

"Alright we can go, but if I get into trouble over not washing my dirty dishes, I am going to be really mad at you," she pointed out, walking to the front door to slip her shoes on.

"Okay," he nodded, putting his shoes back on. "I can take the blame," he laughed. "Though I don't know how long you'd really be able to stay mad at me," he teased, waiting on Zoe to shut the front the door.

"You'd be amazed," she smirked.

Unlike yesterday when walking through the woods to Wade's favorite spot to fish, they made it around the mud, no one falling in and starting a mud war. And they made it to the small fishing pond.

It took a few times before Zoe got the hang of casting without the worm flying through the air, or the line falling on the waters edge instead of sailing through the air landing closer to the middle of the pond.

"I think my dad knew about the mud incident yesterday," Zoe commented, sitting in the grass, watching the pole she held with both hands, waiting to see if she could actually feel when a fish was biting or not.

"Why do you say that?" Wade asked, reeling his line in to make sure that his worm was still on.

"He was asking me about it last night," she told him. "I told him what happened, and that I did enjoy playing in it," she confessed.

"Oh yeah?" He asked raising an eyebrow at her. "What did he have to say about that? Do you have to join the Junior Belles?" He asked, casting his line back out.

"Nope and he'll make sure that I don't ever have to join if I don't want to, and he said that he wants me to be a kid and if that means playing in mud than he's all for it, and that he can get mud out of my clothes without leaving stains," she told him.

"That's great," he smirked. "I can give you a hand in making a mess with the mud on our way outta here," he laughed.

"Don't you dare," she warned, feeling a tug on her pole. "I got a bite," she squealed happy jumping up. "What do I do?" She asked in a panic looking at Wade.

"Breath, first of all," he chuckled. "Reel in the slack and once it's taut give a big tug and keep reeling the line in," he told her.

Zoe doing as told, fighting the fish on the end of her line. She smiled seeing the fish at the top of the water. "What is it?" She asked, watching Wade grab her line to take the fish off.

"A smallmouth bass," he said, pulling the hook from its mouth. "See how's it mouth is level with its eye?" He asked showing her. "It's also a brownish color with vertical lines, and there isn't a break between the dorsal fins. Largemouth bass has a bigger mouth the jaw going past its eye socket, green in color with horizontal lines and a break between the dorsal fins," he explained, putting the fish back into the pond, making sure it was still alive and watched it swim back into the depths of the pond.

"Got it," she nodded, watching Wade put another worm on her hook. She didn't think she was going to have so much fun fishing, but the excitement of catching and reeling in a fish was pure adrenaline, and she wouldn't mind fishing more often.

"If you think this is fun; you should try deep-sea fishing for Marlins, now that's a blast, but it kills your arms," he told her with a laugh. "But you'd like it," he said, feeling a bite on his line.

"Yeah, maybe," she sighed, chewing on the inside of her cheek. It wasn't the fish she had a problem with; it was the boat. She's never been on one, whether it be on a small lake or an ocean, and she's seen the waves out at sea and they scared her, made her think that the boat was going to tip right over, and she would drown or become shark bait.

"What's wrong?" He asked working the fish off his line. "This is a black crappie," he told her, explaining that the black crappie has irregularly arranged speckles and blotches in their color pattern as opposed to the faint vertical bars of the white crappie, making it look more metallic in color, as he let the fish go.

"It's nothing," she told him, moving her pole. "It's silly, really," she said, when Wade didn't question her anymore and the silence went on too long for her liking.

"If it's a fear, it can't be silly," he told her, casting his line back into the pond.

"I've never been on a boat of any kind in any body type of water," she confessed.

"Honestly, that isn't silly. I was beyond scared when I went on the boat deep-sea fishing. My nerves didn't leave until an hour after we got back to land, the same time when my legs stopped feeling weak," he confessed to Zoe. "It's scary; those waves are not fun," he said shaking his head. "The best time to go out is on a little lake when there is no wind so the water will be calm and take it slowly," he shared. "You have nothing to be ashamed of, Zo," he promised her.

"Thanks," she told him, feeling better about her fear. Not that she had plans of racing out and getting in a boat to cure her fears of being in one.

Wade nodded and went back to fishing. Zoe doing the same thing. They sat fishing for the better part of the morning, seeing who could out fish who. It turned out to be a tie when they called it. Both claiming to have caught the bigger fish, bickering about it in a friendly way as, they walked home. Wade dropping his fishing stuff off at his house and walking with Zoe as she headed home. Zoe saying bye as she headed up the walkway as Wade went back home.

"Zoe," her mom said, greeting her by the door.

"Yes?" Zoe questioned not sure why her mom was giving her a look. She hadn't done anything wrong; they knew where she was going, at least she figured they did when they left before she did.

"Care to explain why you didn't wash your dirty dishes from this morning?" Her mom asked. With the older Zoe got they had given her some chores to do around the house. Zoe didn't mind.

"It's not that big of a deal. I washed them," Harley spoke, making his presence known. "She knows that she has responsibilities, and she won't let it happen again, will you?" He asked looking at his daughter. Zoe shook her head. "See, we need to let her enjoy being a kid, Candice," he said.

"How will she learn, if we don't get after her for not doing something as easy as washing a few dishes?" Candice asked.

"She'll learn," he stated. "Zoe why don't you go clean your room," Harley suggested, giving her the out she wanted to have, not wanting to witness her parents get into an argument over the fact she left three dirty dishes in the sink.


	14. Planksgiving Day Fun

**First things first, I am terribly sorry on the months wait for this chapter. A lot of it has been life and a good chunk had been figuring out the chapter. I can make excuse after excuse here on why the chapter has been delayed for the past 2 and a half months, but they're just that excuses. I am sorry. And I do promise the next chapter won't be such a long wait as I do enjoy writing this one.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Zoe you look…" Wade was saying when Zoe gave him a death glare making him shut up at once.

"Don't even finish that sentence Wade Kinsella," she huffed out. She'd stomp her foot if she thought for a second he could see it, but the skirt of the dress touched the floor.

"What?" He asked with a chuckle. "All I was gonna say is how pretty you look," he smirked, challenging her.

"Yeah more like pretty ugly," she sighed rolling her eyes.

Leave it to her mom to find the ugliest dress in one of the ugliest shades of pink ever made to fall in love with for Zoe to wear at the wedding. She could deal with the color, the rest of it, not so much and that is where Jackie came in at.

"If anyone can do wonders with that dress, it'll be Ma," Wade shrugged. He's seen some of the stuff his mom has done in the past for plenty of the residents of Bluebell; Zoe's dress should be nothing, all that needed to be done, was well, a bit of everything.

"The only wonder that will work on this dress is a fire," Zoe retorted, looking down at the dress, the sparkles mixed with lace and feathers, not to mention the pink boa that she refused to wear and left in the box.

"You won't hear any argument from me about that," Wade chuckled, walking to the kitchen seeing his mom return with her sewing kit.

"It's not as bad as you two are making it out to be," Jackie told the two kids. Being a seamstress, she's seen her fair share of disasters. "We just need to do something with well all of it," she said, finding where she wanted to start working at. "Wade, you have a room that needs to be cleaned, and once you're done there your dad could use your help in the shed," she informed her youngest. Earl's Saturday plans had involved cleaning up the shed, but an emergency had seen him at work covering for a co-worker.

"On it," Wade sighed, grabbing a bottle of juice and heading up to his room to get started.

"Alright Zoe, let's see what we can do with this," Jackie sighed, looking over the feathers that had no right to be on there. "Hold still so I don't poke you," she warned the young girl. Zoe nodded, the thought of ruining the dress with blood, as wonderful as that sounded to her, she didn't want to get poked by a needle.

Once Jackie had everything she needed to take the dress in, she let Zoe change out of the dress. She really hoped she could work a lot of magic when it came to the dress, she wasn't sure what Candice was thinking when she bought the dress for Zoe to wear in her parent's wedding. The dress was over the top and trying to dang hard for her liking and by the look on Zoe's face when she showed up, the young girl despised the dress and with extra little things added in, she didn't blame Zoe for wanting a totally different dress.

"Is it okay if I go help Wade?" Zoe asked, handing the dress to Jackie after changing back into her normal clothes.

"If you really want to spend your afternoon cleaning," Jackie chuckled; Zoe nodded her head. She didn't mind giving Wade a hand, and his room wasn't ever that big of a mess. "I'll call you when I need you," she informed Zoe.

"How'd you escape that wonderfully…"

"You mean horrific dress?" She asked Wade, cutting off whatever he was about to say.

"Your words," he said, tossing some clothes in his dresser off the floor.

"Wade, are you even sure those were clean?" She asked him, not wanting to take the risk of seeing for herself.

"They smelt clean," Wade shrugged.

"Boys are gross," Zoe commented, sitting on his bed. There was no way that she was going to be touching his clothes not knowing if they're clean or dirty.

"You could help instead of being all harsh," Wade teased, tossing a shirt at her.

"Wade!" Zoe screeched, throwing the shirt back at him. "Gross!"

"Relax," Wade laughed, tossing the shirt into a drawer. "It's clean, that one was in the basket of clothes ma washed," he explained between his chuckles.

"Still. Not. Funny!" She huffed out.

"Relax." Wade shook his head, tossing the rest of his clean clothes into his dresser, not really caring what drawer any of it went in, or if they stay folded. "Are you going to come help with the shed?" Wade asked her, placing the basket in his closet, shutting the closet door.

"It can't be worse than placing dirty clothes in with clean ones," she retorted, getting up and leading the way downstairs and out the back door to where the shed stood in the backyard.

"You'd be surprised; dad can be quite the hoarder, not to mention that Ma has kept all our baby stuff wanting to be ready for when she gets grandkids, even if it's like a lifetime away from now," Wade told her, rolling his eyes at his mom's explanation on keeping every single baby item she's ever owned.

"In the shed? Wouldn't she want that in the attic or something?" Zoe asked, walking into the shed, taking in all the boxes scattered about.

"I don't know; I don't exactly go around questioning their motives," he replied. "Okay, all that really needs to be done is all the stuff in the middle of the way needs to be put away. Under no circumstances toss anything in the trash, got it?" He questioned her.

"Even if it's ya know garbage?" She asked, picking up an empty wrapper for some sort of part.

"That goes in the green box behind you," he told her.

"Yeah," she said, placing the plastic wrapper in the green box like Wade instructed her to do. "I'm going to see if your mom is ready with my dress," she told him, backing out of the shed.

"Wanna head to the Jammer for milkshakes once I'm done here?" He asked Zoe. It wouldn't take him any time at all with Zoe not in his way.

"Sure," she nodded, heading in to see if Jackie needed her.

* * *

"Two chocolate shakes," Wally said, placing the milkshakes on the table, one in front of Zoe and the other in front of Wade.

"Thanks Wally," Zoe smiled, pulling her glass closer.

"It's my job," he chuckled. "Though you're welcome, young lady," he said, walking off.

"Has Lemon roped you into matching pirate wear for Planksgiving next week?" Wade asked, taking a drink of his milkshake through the straw.

"She tried," Zoe nodded. "But uh, my mom wants us to do a family pirate costume thing," she said rolling her eyes.

"Let me guess; she's making you wear some over-the-top dress," Wade guessed, laughing at the dramatic eyeroll Zoe made.

"How'd you know?" Zoe fake asked him. "All I want is a sword, but that was too much to ask for," she grumbled. It didn't matter how times she told her mom about female pirates and the success rate and all the other information she could find on female pirates, because there had been quite a few of them throughout history.

"I've got an extra sword," Wade chuckled. "It's all yours if you want it," he offered her.

"Yes!" She exclaimed, a little too loudly. "Thank you," she told him softly.

"What are friends for?" He asked with a smirk. "But uh are you gonna be able to hide the sword from your mom?" He questioned.

"That's the easy part," Zoe told him. "You've seen the dresses the Belles wear; it's very much the same thing," she explained to him.

"Under the dress than," Wade chuckled.

"For the most part," she nodded in agreement. "Lemon was saying something about a treasure hunt. I've heard the stories, from school, from Lemon and from my dad, but is there really a hidden treasure?" She asked him.

"No, if there is we haven't exactly found it. And it's not about the treasure, just the fun you have with friends, at least that's what everyone says," he shrugged. "Lemon talked you into joining the madness she makes over the treasure hunt, huh?" He chuckled.

"She didn't give me a choice in the matter," Zoe sighed. "I would much rather enjoy the rest of the activities then chase down a treasure chest that doesn't actually exist," she told him.

"Leave that to me," Wade nodded. Zoe rose her eyebrows at him, questioning him how he could help her with this. "It's called splitting up; Lemon can't refuse a plan that doubles the effort of finding her forsaken treasure," he explained.

"And instead we enjoy the day without her bossing us around," Zoe comment, getting Wade to nod. "Smart."

"Years of practice," he chuckled. Zoe kicked him under the table. "What the heck was that for?" He grumbled, rubbing his shin. Zoe nodded behind him. He never had the time to look behind him as Lemon appeared at their table, George in tow.

"Good, you two are here," Lemon said, making Zoe scoot further into the booth.

"What is the meaning of this?" Wade asked, making room for George to join them and not stand at the table.

"Lemon's game plan for Planksgiving," George muttered. "Comes with a play by play book and everything," he faked enthused.

"George Tucker," Lemon berated. "I know we're old enough to understand that there isn't a real treasure chest hidden, but humor me," she sighed. "Our dear friend, Zoe, here hasn't participated in our yearly treasure hunt on a holiday she's never heard of before, she needs the full experience."

"Dear Zoe is sitting right next to you, and she can speak for herself, if anyone at this table should know that, it's me," Wade said to the table, but mostly Lemon. He wanted her to know that Zoe could speak for herself, on whether or not she wanted to do some lame treasure hunt, which he knew she didn't want to do.

"Why do it if you know we're not going to find anything?" Zoe asked, daring to take a look at the game plan that Lemon had came up with. She didn't want two of her friends to get into any sort of argument over a treasure hunt that might be fun; she wouldn't know if she didn't join in.

"Memories, for fun," Lemon shrugged. "What do you say?" She asked, looking around at the other three friends.

"We should do something a little different this year," Wade suggested.

"Like?" George asked, wanting to do something other than look for a treasure that really didn't exist.

"Like we break up into teams and see who can win most the games," he shared.

"But not the whole girls vs boys thing either; that's lame," Zoe retorted. They didn't need to see who was better in that regard.

"I agree," George nodded. "I'll team up with Lemon and you two can be a team," he suggested.

"Works for me," Wade nodded, winking at Zoe.

"We'll meet by the pirate ship say noon?" Lemon asked, getting nods from around the table. "Good, I'm going to go inform Crickett and AB of the changes," she said, dragging George off with her.

"That was easier done than said," Wade laughed.

"Ya think?" Zoe laughed, finishing off her now melted milkshake. "I should probably see if your mom has made any headway with my stupid dress," Zoe sighed.

"Hey, Zo, why didn't you tell your mom how much you didn't like the dress before she bought it?" He asked, following her outside into the warm November afternoon.

"I tried; I really did," Zoe told him as they walked back to his place. "But she wasn't listening to what I wanted, it's her day and all about her," Zoe said, rolling her eyes. "I wanted a plain pink dress, but that wasn't good enough."

"Parents right?" He asked, nudging her with his elbow.

"Not really," she sighed. "My dad gets me. He's the one that suggested I bring the dress to your mom, promised I would have a totally different dress when she was done." She was really hoping that her dad was right about Jackie making the dress look like a different one altogether.

"Moment of truth," Wade told her, pulling the house door open, letting Zoe go in first.

For Zoe, it was a miracle that Jackie had been able to do something with her dress and make it look like one she would buy off the hanger at any store. The random groupings of feathers were now sorted out on the top of the dress, the lace cascading down the skirt and the sparkles lay underneath the lace. And as for the boa that she wanted no part in wearing, it went around the waist of the dress in a cute little belt. It was far better than when she showed up to the Kinsella house. So much better, in fact, that she really loved the dress.

"Jackie, thank you so much!" Zoe exclaimed, giving the older woman a hug.

"You're welcome," Jackie smiled, easily hugging Zoe back. "Don't worry about your parents, I did show your mom, and I made her see that this was better than the original," Jackie assured her.

"Thank you for that, I feel like that's more of a miracle than fixing the dress," Zoe smiled.

"Why don't you try it on, and we'll see if it's a perfect fit, huh?" Jackie asked her. Zoe nodded, taking the dress and going to the bathroom to try the dress on.

* * *

"There is no way that I can do this, Wade," Zoe frustratedly told her partner for the Planksgiving events, seeing the very small plank that sat across a swimming pool. She might have been able to walk across it if she could see, but with the puffy red dress, and a blindfold to boot, she wouldn't be able to cross it. She had already seen Lemon fail to cross; AB had made it across. All she had to do was making it across, and they would win.

"I know you can do this, Zo," Wade said picking Zoe's spirits up. "And if you fail it's not a big deal; we'll find another tie breaker," he assured her. "You're not scared of the water are you?" He teased.

"What? Are you crazy? I do not have a fear of water. I am an excellent swimmer; I'll have you know," she huffed out.

"Than what has you freaking out?" Wade questioned her.

"Well I guess, nothing," she frowned. She didn't care about the water, nor the height as it wasn't all that high either. It came down to the fact that she had to be blindfolded.

"Then you got this, no problem," Wade told her. He wished that he could trade places with her, but he had done the cannonball dodge, where you use black rubber balls made to look like cannonballs in a game of dodgeball. They were able to have a small game where it had been Wade vs George vs Crickett. To the shock of the guys, Crickett had won the round in rapid speed, giving her and Ab's team the point they needed to come from behind and tie it all up in walk the plank if Zoe failed to cross the plank.

"Maybe," Zoe sighed, climbing up the small ladder.

She took a deep breath, putting the blindfold over her eyes, seeing nothing but pitch dark. With each small step she took to cross the plank; she could hear Wade yelling encouragement at her, along with telling her if she was going to step off the plank at any given time.

"Folks that's what you call team work," Wade bragged, once Zoe finished walking the plank, effectively winning the contest between friends.

"Except we never agreed on what the winners actually win," Lemon retorted, seeing Zoe heading their way.

"I did it!" She exclaimed, jumping on Wade for a hug.

"With my help," Wade chuckled, spinning them around. Zoe rolled her eyes, landing back on her feet.

"We have to do this again next year," George commented, as they walked back to where their parents were at, now that it's close to time to eat.

"With an actually trophy next time," Wade pointed out. "Because we got ripped off," he grumbled.

"Man up," Zoe stated, lightly punching his arm. "We don't need a trophy to know that we're the team to beat next year," she smirked.

"Who said we're keeping the same teams next year?" Lemon asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You four can change it up, but why mess with perfection?" Wade smirked, pulling Zoe into his side. Zoe nodded agreeing with Wade. And they did need to show their friends that they could win two years in a row, and you know show that their win wasn't some fluke.


	15. Our Spying Ways

**Hey all! I know 3 months is a bit of a wait. A few different things have played into the delay of this story. Mainly _Hart of a Kinsella_.**

 **This chapter does see a small time jump going from November to mid-June. In order to get where I need to be within this one a few time jumps are going to play a huge role in moving forward until I get to where I need to be at.**

 **JustWriter2:** **I figured it best to reply back here with the PM notifications turned off on the site. I hadn't even thought about giving Zoe her Bat Mitzvah. And when I get to the age for Zoe to have one, it's going to come down to if it's something that I can write, as I have no knowledge about Bat Mitzvah's. And saying that it is something that I really want to give Zoe.**

 **More soon.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Zoe watched the activity from the table she sat at. Her eyes focusing on how happy her parents were as they danced, smiles plastered on their faces, and she swore she could hear their laughter over the music blasting through the air. She should have been happy, and she is, very happy that her parents are together and she got the family she once thought she had. That wasn't her problem, her problem being that her best friend was being attacked and fawned over by her cousins, and she didn't like it. If that made her jealous than so be it, she wanted his attention, his full attention. That way they could mock the weird dances going on out on the dance floor the more people kept drinking. It's a sight to see, and she couldn't enjoy it because her… well you could say her partner in crime isn't there to poke fun with her.

"What has got you all glum looking?" She turned to look at her small group of friends. She couldn't even tell you which one spoke as she was so far into her own world, wishing the floor would open up and swallow both her cousins.

"You do know he's been trying to find a way out of that situation," George told her, following her gaze. "I tried to help, but I got stuck over there until Harry came to my rescue," he explained, seeing his older brother sneak off with his girlfriend.

"We all know that Wade would rather be talking and enjoying the night with the maid of honor," Lemon smirked, placing her empty cup on the table and grabbing George's hand to dance.

"They're right," Ab softly told her. "Why sit around watching them, when you can go over and get Wade away from them and have fun with your best friend," she said, walking off.

Zoe got up, looking around the party, amazed at how the whole town was out to celebrate the holy union between her parents. Taking a deep breath she headed in the direction of Wade and her cousins. She fake gagged hearing them try to impress Wade with what little knowledge they had over the band he recently started with Meatball and a few other friends. Wade caught sight of her and tried to hold his laughter back, a few chuckles came out.

"Wade isn't even as good as he says he is," Zoe smirked, joining the conversation, getting glares from both of her cousins. "He made my ears bleed last week," she teased.

"Wait until I get my own axe," he smirked, picturing the perfect guitar in his mind, the very one he's had his eye on for a while now.

"You'll be a total shredding machine," Zoe retorted, rolling her eyes, earning herself a cocky look from her best friend.

"Axe?" Vivian asked clearly confused as to what Wade was going on about. "I thought…"

"Seriously Viv?" Winnie sighed, giving her little sister an annoyed look. "Do you not know slang for guitars?"

Wade and Zoe shared a look and snuck off as the sisters got into, one thing leading into another as they started to yell at each other. And they wanted nothing to do with the argument between cousins, and it's been the out Wade's been looking for.

"And that makes me happy that I am an only sibling," Zoe laughed, walking with Wade as they made their way to the other side of the party, avoiding as many people as they can.

"It's not all bad," Wade shrugged. "I get along with Jesse, more than we fight. Really, it's like a built in best friend."

"I'll have to take your word for that," she laughed. "George said you've been trying to flee those two for most the night," she remarked, biting her lip.

"Like you wouldn't believe, they don't know how to take a hint," he sighed, plopping down in the grass, in the shadows of the reception going on. "Where was my best friend, when I needed her the most?" He asked, nudging her shoulder with his own, as she sat down next to him.

"Enjoying my night," she quipped out. Wade shook his head. "What's that all about?" She asked frowning at him.

"I saw ya sitting at the table with that little scowl on your face," he teased.

"Shut up," she muttered, shoving him. "Ever think I was mad about the fact you were keeping my cousins busy, and I wanted to have fun with them?" She asked, looking up at the party where the laughs were coming from.

"If that were even remotely true, you'd be over there with them and not sittin' here next to yours truly," he smirked.

"Yeah well not for long," she mumbled, getting up. She went to walk away, coming to a stop a few feet from him. "Want some cake?" She asked, not looking back at him.

"How can a person skip out on cake?" He asked smugly, draping an arm over her shoulders. "Just don't leave me alone with your crazy cousins," he shuttered.

"I can try, but half the people, here are a bit crazy, and they might sweep me off leaving you to fend for yourself," she teased.

"Not if I can help it," he said lowly, making Zoe laugh as they walked to the table where the cake was mostly cut and on plates for anyone to take.

"Hey, isn't that Harry's girlfriend?" Zoe asked, nodding to where Jesse had an arm around a brunette.

"Is it?" Wade asked, looking around the set up in the middle of town, seeing Harry sitting at a table with his parents and George, looking none to happy. He frowned wondering what it was about, he shrugged because really it wasn't any of his business, though Jesse, he's a different story.

"I swear I saw her leaving with Harry a while ago," Zoe stated with a frown.

"We can always spy on Jesse and find out, like old times," Wade smirked, shoving the slice of cake into his mouth, pulling Zoe behind him.

"Could you have I don't know let me finish my cake at least?" She asked him, pulling her arm free as they rushed in the direction Jesse went.

"Not if we want to catch Jesse," he tossed out.

"I don't think I want to catch them kissing," Zoe said, scrunching her face up.

"Don't you want to know if Jesse and Harry's girlfriend is cheating on Harry?" He asked her, stopping short to see Jesse and the girl talking.

"What if we have it wrong? What if she's cheating on Jesse with Harry? And what are we going to do with the information? It's not like Jesse or Harry is going to believe us," she hissed out.

"We can sort that out later," he frowned. "For now let's figure out what's going on. What's the harm in that?" He asked, sneaking closer to where his brother sat.

"Maybe a little of everything?" She stated, moving to sit next to Wade. "I've got to be crazy to be doing this," she sighed under her breath. Wade gave her a smirk, holding his hand over her mouth hearing his brother start to talk. Zoe giving him a glare.

"I can't do this," Jesse sighed. "He's my best friend, and this hurts me just as much as it does him. Whatever this thing is we can't do act on it. Not now or ever, Jane," Jesse explained, wiping his hands on his slacks.

"You're kidding right?" Jane yelled, standing up. "You told me that we could be together if I broke things off with Harry! You flat out lied to me!" She huffed, laughing. "I should've known it was nothing but a stupid scheme, because Harry couldn't break it off himself," she snorted. "Tell me that's it," she demanded looking at Jesse.

"Why would you think that?" Jesse asked outraged, moving to stand in front of her. "That's not the case. At all," he shouted, running his hands through his hair. He wanted to reach out to her, hold her hands and assure her that he has strong feelings for her, that he just couldn't hurt his best friend like that.

"No?" She asked a bit too innocently. Jesse shook his head. "Then why claim we can be a couple if you didn't intend to keep your promise? Huh?"

"Because I am stupid," he huffed out. "He's my best friend and I can't hurt him like this."

"Yeah, well maybe you should have grown a conscience sooner," she bit out going to walk off, only for Jesse to mutter under his breath and pull her back into him kissing her.

Wade and Zoe looked at each breaking out into a fit of giggles, making their way back to the reception, stumbling over roots as they quickly went not wanting to see anything else.

"Now what?" Zoe asked, out of breath.

"We tell no one about the fact we saw Jesse trying to eat that girl's face off," he said, sending them both into a fit of laughter.

"What's with you dweebs?" Jesse asked, raising an eyebrow at the two of them, which only left them laughing harder. "Dorks," Jesse chuckled, walking off. Thinking he better check the punch set out for everyone underage.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Harry asked, watching his friend sniff and taste the punch.

"My brother and his little girlfriend are over there laughing their butts off like they're drunk," Jesse said, pointing behind them. "Wanted to make sure the punch wasn't spiked," he shrugged.

"Maybe they snuck some booze," Hank shrugged, thinking perhaps he could get away with sneaking a bottle or two.

Jesse shook his head. There's no way that his little brother and Zoe, who he did consider a friend even despite the age gap, they wouldn't do something like stealing a bottle of any type of alcohol. At their age things like that wouldn't even register in their little minds. "That's just not them, man."

"Then who knows, they're just kids. Could be anything," Harry shrugged. "Can I have a word with you?" He asked, turning his back on the party behind him.

"What's this about?" Jesse asked with a frown. Afraid to know that his friend found out about what's going on with Jane.

"Don't act so innocent," Harry snarled. "She told me that she had to break up because she just wasn't into me the way she is with you," he spit out.

"Look man, it's not like that," Jesse defended himself.

"Like what? You stealing my girlfriend?" Harry laughed loudly. "Save it," he snarled, turning to walk off, thinking better of it when he spun around and punched his so-called best friend.

* * *

Zoe sat on Wade's bed next to Wade himself, voices traveling upstairs to them as Jackie and Earl got to the bottom of the whole fight between Jesse and Harry promoting them to call it an early night and come home, saying the kids needed to get to bed anyway as night was upon them.

Zoe was supposed to stay with her cousins while her parents went on their honeymoon; a week-long cruise. She didn't even pay attention to why she wouldn't be staying with them, when they brought her stuff to the Kinsella home. She didn't complain, knowing she'd have more fun with Wade than she could with her cousins.

"Can we help you?" Wade asked, eyeing his brother up, who leaned on the door frame, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes, actually, you can," Jesse nodded, moving into his brother's room, swinging the desk chair around to slump into it.

"Are you going to spit it out or do we have to guess?" Wade asked annoyed over his brother walking into his room and just to sit in the chair like it's his room. "Seriously, we're supposed to be getting ready for bed." Which they already did. Wade even made a makeshift bed on his floor, leaving Zoe to sleep in his bed.

"I'm getting there," Jesse laughed, leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "Curious to know what had the two of you in stitches earlier tonight. Care to share?" He asked looking between the two of them.

It took one glance between Wade and Zoe, and they were laughing; the confused look on Jesse's face didn't help them control their laughter either.

"Just people dancing," Wade said, miming the robot where he sat on his bed. He really didn't want his brother to know the truth, it'd only make an unwanted fight between brothers happen, no use for that to take place, not when Zoe was left in the middle of it.

Zoe shook her head, giving Wade a light shove. "Your brother's right, the dance floor turned into a zoo the later the night grew on," Zoe stated, covering up the fact they had been spying on him and Jane.

"Whatever," Jesse mumbled getting up, not sure if he should believe them or not.

"Jesse," Zoe called out softly, twisting her hands in her lap, finding a dirt speck on Wade's wall to focus on. Jesse raised an eyebrow waiting on Zoe to say what she planned on saying to him. "Why?" She asked him.

"Why what?" Jesse asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I can take that a million different ways. I need you to be a whole lot clearer in what you want an answer to," he told her.

"Why make a move on your best friend's girlfriend?" She asked him, daring to take a look at his tense face. She whipped her head to Wade when he nudged her in the side with his elbow.

"Love," he sighed. "It makes you do stupid things," he shrugged, giving them that as his only answer. It's far beyond complicated for them to understand. They'd get it in a few years.

"I don't think that's true," Zoe told him frowning.

"Isn't that what your mother did?" Jesse asked, shutting his bedroom, feeling guilty for what he said. He'd apologize to Zoe when he knew for sure she's not utterly mad at him.

"Your brother's a jerk," Zoe stated, wiping the lone tear that slipped down her cheek.

"Now you know where I get it from," Wade teased, wanting to make Zoe laugh. And that wasn't the trick in doing so. "He didn't mean it, Zo," he tried.

"Mean it or not he still said it," she softly stated. Her mom did everyone wrong with her actions where her dad and Ethan were concerned, it still didn't mean that love had anything to do with her actions. Or it did, maybe she'd never know the full truth to the situation. All she knew and vowed to do is not be so stupid when she grew up and fell in love. She wouldn't make her mother's mistakes, and she wouldn't do what Jesse did either.

"And if I know my brother the way I do, he's over there trying to think up ways to make it up to you. You're more than a friend in this house; you're pretty much family. Ma adores you happy to have a girl hanging around," he retorted rolling his eyes, Zoe softly giggling at his reaction. "And don't even get me started on how Dad keeps going on about you being this nice influence, and he'd take you as a daughter any day," he dramatically told her.

"And Jesse?" She asked in a small voice.

"Siblings fight don't they?" Wade asked with a smirk. Zoe gave him a small shrug, because what did she really know about sibling behavior. "Trust me Zo, he thinks of you as a sister, one he'll enjoy protecting in a few years," he told her with an eyeroll.

"And what about you?" She asked, looking at him.

"What kind of question is that?" He laughed, taken back she would even ask such a thing. "You're my best friend and there isn't anything that is ever going to change that," he stated, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug. "I'm always going to care about you."

"I feel the same way about you," she softly told him, breaking the hug. "You're my best friend and I do think of your family as an extended part of my own," she stated.

"Aw Zo, you're gonna make me blush," Wade teased, hiding his face. Zoe snorted, giving him a shove. She burst out laughing hearing the thud he made landing on the floor.

"Lights out," Earl stated, standing in the doorway, an amused look on his face, having seen the small encounter. Wade nodded, getting into his makeshift bed on the floor, Zoe getting under the covers in Wade's bed. "Night," he told them, flipping the light switch off.

Night echoed around the room, as Earl shut the door behind him. They laid in silence for a few minutes waiting for the coast to be clear, using the moonlight to see; Zoe crawled to the foot of the bed, looking down at Wade.

"Wanna tell scary stories?" Zoe asked him.

Wade shook his head, barely making out the scrunched up face of his best friend. "I think I've been scarred watching Jesse and Jane," he muttered. Zoe giggled lightly.

"Your loss," she shrugged, moving to lay back down, pulling the covers up. "Night Wade," she softly whispered.

"Night Zo," he whispered back, rolling onto his side, slipping his eyes closed to sleep.

* * *

Zoe sat at the table with Wade and Jackie eating breakfast. Earl had left before the sun rose for work, and Jesse grabbed a banana on his way out the door, saying something about seeing Hank and clearing the whole mess up.

"Anything special planned for the day?" Jackie asked, sipping on her coffee, expecting some sort of trouble from the two at the table.

Wade shook his head, stuffing another bite of waffle into his mouth. His mother quick to reprimand him for stuffing his mouth so full.

"I promised Lemon that I'd hang out with her this morning," Zoe told Jackie. "If that's okay?" She asked. She wasn't quite sure how it all worked with asking Jackie and Earl for things. Her parents had gotten better at letting her run off to hang out with her friends, as long as she came home for lunch or checked in with them if she wouldn't be home until dinner time.

"Totally fine," Jackie nodded. "Have Alice call if you're going to have lunch with them," she told Zoe.

"Will do," Zoe nodded, placing her plate in the sink and taking off to Lemon's house.

"Does this mean I can expect you to come home this afternoon with muddy clothes?" Jackie asked her son.

"Nah, I'm gonna be out in the garage working on my guitar skills," Wade shrugged, finishing his apple juice off.

"I talked with your dad," Jackie told her son, getting him to retake his seat. "We've come to terms with getting you lessons if that's what you want," she said.

"Really?" Wade asked getting excited. Jackie nodded to confirm it's true. "There's a catch isn't there?" He questioned. Something this huge, had to come with a catch.

"Your grades at school can't drop, and you have to stay on top of your responsibilities at home," she told him the conditions.

"Fair enough," Wade nodded. "Why the sudden change? It's just you wouldn't let me learn until I learned how to play the piano." It really didn't make much sense to him right now, he couldn't add it all up in his head.

"I've seen how you are on that old guitar you got from your Uncle, and I've come to realize just how serious you are about playing," Jackie explained to him. "That and you're making the neighborhood cats howl in pain," she teased her son.

"Gee thanks for the boost of confidence, Ma," he laughed. "Really though, thanks for letting me have this," he smiled, kissing her cheek, taking his dirty dishes to the kitchen.

Meanwhile with Zoe, she's having a blast with Lemon, AB and Crickett as they played hopscotch and jumped rope on the sidewalk in front of Lemon's house, enjoying the nice weather, as it wasn't entirely too hot as Summer has yet to fully set in for them.

They stopped what they were doing when they saw Jesse approaching them. He stopped a bit away from them, deciding if he wanted to ruin the fun they were having or if what he had to say could wait. Deciding against interrupting them, he turned and walked back the way he came.

"What's wrong with Jesse?" AB questioned, standing to Zoe's right.

"No idea," Crickett commented. "Come on, let's get back to our game."

"Actually, I have to do something. Will you let your mom know I went back to the Kinsella's?" She asked looking at Lemon. Her friend gave a nod, letting Zoe run off catching up with Jesse. "Hey Jesse, wait up," she called, struggling to catch her breath.

"Something wrong?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as he slowed his pace down. Zoe shook her head. "Then it's about what I wanted back there," he sighed, watching her nod. "I'm sorry for what I said last night. I was out of line."

"It's the truth," Zoe shrugged, looking down.

"It still hurt you and I never wanted to hurt you," he said, pulling her into a side hug. "I always wanted a little sister, and I got one," he teased.

"Lucky me," she teased. "Catch you later, Jesse," she told him, entering the garage having spotted Wade sitting on a chair clearly in his own world. "What's with you?" She asked, sitting behind the keyboard, as that's the closest, she could sit to him, without sitting on the floor. She frowned getting no response from him, and him sitting there wearing a creepy looking grin totally freaked her out.

"When'd you get here?" He asked, looking at Zoe after she snapped her fingers in his face.

"A few minutes ago. What's got you in Lala land?" She asked with a laugh. "Must be good for your grin to grow double in size," she remarked.

"I get to take guitar lessons," he beamed. "Do you know how crazy cool that is?" He asked her.

"Don't go turning into a rockstar on me now," she told him, happy that he got to do the one thing he's been wanting to do long before she's known him.

"I could never," he huffed outraged. "And that Zo is a promise I intend to keep," he smirked at her.


End file.
